Love Conquers All
by champagnebubbles13
Summary: Hermione is transported through time, ending up in the age of the Marauders. Read as she tries to return home, and falls in love along the way. Includes pork pies, Galaxy choc, meerkats, fake ghosts, house elves and a whole lot of fun! Canon until GOF.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: anything you recognise probably belongs to the lovely JK Rowling, who has been kind enough to let us play with her characters :)**

**Happy reading!**

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**Prelude**

Love is the craziest thing ever. You fall in love when you least expect it, when you can't afford to, with someone you don't expect to. It has been described as a disease, something that infects every cell of your body, making you ache for the one you love like for water in a desert. Continuing with the desert analogy - with love you also find many mirages of cool lakes: people who deliberately set out to make you want them, use you, and then disappear as if it were a dream, leaving you with a broken heart and no water.

Love clouds judgement, makes even the cleverest person act stupidly. People justify so many things with the word 'love', even if it hurts the object of their affections.

'It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all'. So said a famous bard. Being one who has loved and lost, I can honestly say that it is, in fact, the other way round.

Virgil once said 'Love conquers all' - to my surprise, and extreme annoyance, Love even conquered me.

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**Chapter 1**

I banged on the door in annoyance.

"Hurry _up_ Ron! There are _other_ people in this house, most of whom want to use the bathroom sometime this century!"

The sound of the shower continued as I received no acknowledgement of my complaint. I groaned in frustration. Trust me to pick the very morning I needed to be up early to sleep through my alarm and miss first chance in the bathroom! And I really needed to wash my hair... Turning, I stomped back into the room I shared with Ginny and flopped irritably onto my bed. Ginny had obviously just been woken by my shout and my annoyance with Ron increased. Ginny was not a light sleeper - a banshee could scream in her ear and the most she would do is roll over – if Ginny heard me, Ron must have! And he had ignored me! No-one ignores Hermione Granger, and lives to tell the tale. (Well, I tend to jinx them, actually, but it's nice to _imagine_ doing something different). My musings as to which way to kill Ron slowly and painfully - boil him in Moaning Myrtle's toilet or give him as a gift to the centaurs? - were interrupted as Ginny woke up enough to say something.

"Ron still in the shower?" She yawned, rubbing her face with a hand.

_No shit, Sherlock_, I thought acidly, but replied nicely. After all, it had been me who had woken her up, and she didn't seem to be too upset with me. She'd probably manage to go back to sleep in a few minutes.

"He's been in there for the better part of an hour, now. I don't think he appreciates that there are other people in this house - or that he uses enough water to provide for the whole population of Africa..." I trailed off as I noticed her eyes glaze over. People generally do that around me when I start telling them about something I find interesting but they don't. Oh well.

_Note to self: when getting married, find someone who can conceal the 'glazed eyes' look._

I sighed and started searching for my wand. A quick cleaning charm would have to do, as the noise of the shower did not promise to stop any time soon.

Half an hour later I was putting the finishing touches to my makeup and Ginny was snoring peacefully once again. I sometimes wonder how I can manage to sleep with her rumbling away like an adolescent dragon next to me; then I remember the full-sized dragon snores of Lavender Brown and wonder no more.

_2nd note to self - make sure he doesn't snore._

I should probably point out that I am, actually, quite into hair and makeup and clothes, but with both best friends being male, I have no chance to divulge this information. I like shopping as much as the next girl, however I hate 'girly nights' and tend to avoid the sixth year dormitory like the plague when the other sixth year girls schedule one. Not my idea of fun. A big fat Galaxy bar and a nice mushy book are my occasional girlish indulgences; along with a nice bubbly bath once a week. If you ever want me to be nice to you for a day, give me Galaxy. Seemples. squeak (I love that advert!)

Checking the time, I realised that I had spent a little longer primping than normal and so made my way downstairs - I had 20 minutes to have breakfast and get ready to meet Professor Dumbledore. I had no idea why he wanted to meet me, only that he did, at 9:30am, and that apparently he 'is extremely fond of Mars Bars'. Whatever that means.

Breakfast was pretty boring, actually. Toast and jam. Like I have had every morning since I arrived at the Burrow a week ago. At least at Hogwarts there is some variation, you know, like porridge, or fruit, or cereal... But no. Here, it was toast, toast, toast... And guess what? More toast! I sighed. It would be good to be back at school - I couldn't wait to get to the library.

Again a little break in the narrative (I hope I'm not boring you but I am trying to get rid of the train of the train of thought that I am in love with books and studying and school!).

I enjoy learning - I like the challenges of learning something new and, if in class we are covering something I know already, I will do extra research around the subject to make it more interesting. I do not enjoy spending my time doing homework, I simply am eager to get it out of the way as soon as possible so that I have time for other activities.

There.

Sorted.

Where was I? Toast. Of course.

I finished my toast, and ended up brushing my teeth in the kitchen sink as Ron _still_ wasn't out of the shower (honestly, I know he's tall, but there's not _that_ much of him to wash!). It was 25 minutes past nine exactly, and so I scooped up a handful of Floo powder, yelled 'BYE' to the house at large, then spoke to the fire.

"_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"_

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**A/N hi lovely readers! A review would be nice, just to let me know what you think – one-liners are fine**

**This is my first fic, so please try and be nice to me... ****I have lots of good things in store for you **

**Apologies about the meerkat phrase – those of you who have seen the advert will know what I'm talking about – I was dared to fit it in somewhere...**

**This is going to be a Hermione/Marauders/time travel fic, with possible pairings of RL/HG, SB/HG and possibly SS/HG... not sure about the last one, it all depends on what my characters decide to do...**

**xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: doesn't belong to me - the lovely JK Rowling owns it all :) plot's all mine though...**

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**Chapter 2**

_Previously..._

_It was 25 minutes past nine exactly, and so I scooped up a handful of Floo powder, yelled 'BYE' to the house at large, then spoke to the fire._

"_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"_

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I emerged from the fireplace in a room I had never seen before – it was full of fireplaces and obviously was the main entrance place for Flooing into Hogwarts. There was one way out, apart from the fireplaces, so I exited and found myself in a very familiar large room – the main Entrance Hall. From here I made my way upstairs, to where I assumed Professor Dumbledore's office was.

Half an hour later, I was on the fifth floor, and was also hopelessly lost.

_This shouldn't have happened! I know the castle, I must have made a wrong turn somewhere!_ I reprimanded myself for not paying attention to where my feet were taking me. Rounding a corner, I struck... a dead end.

"Great." I stated, annoyed. I turned round to go back the way I had come; only to find that there wasn't one. I did a full circle, spinning on the ball of one foot. Nope, no exit. I was in a door-less, window-less, stone-walled room. On my own. With an appointment to see Professor Dumbledore in... I gasped.

That couldn't be right! I had glanced at my watch to check the time, only to find that both hands were frozen still at 9:17:39. They simply were not moving.

This was not because the battery had run out – I had changed it the previous week and, anyway, when a watch stops, the second hand quivers on the spot ever so slightly, and this one wasn't. There had to have been some sort of magic on it.

I then realised that I had left the house at 9:25. I had looked at my watch before I left, and it had definitely been alive and ticking as I had noted that the time was 9:25.

A feeling of unease crept over me. This was seriously weird – I was stuck in a room with no exit, with a watch that seemed to have a mind of its own, by myself, with no way to contact anyone for help. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a brief flicker on my wrist. I took my watch off, and lifted it up so that it was level with my eyes. I could have sworn I had seen it move – maybe it was just my imagination. I went to put it back on when the time I had read on the face registered. I sat down in shock, staring at the watch again. The time now read 9:15:13.

As I watched, the second hand crept seven seconds... _backwards_.

And then another. And another. The gap between each seven-second jump gradually decreased until the second hand was turning backwards in one, fluid movement. It sped up. The time was now 7:15:48am, now it was 3:12am, now it was going so fast I could only read the hour hand. 12, 8, 6, and 2 o'clock the previous day all went by with no sign of stopping and, as I watched, the hour hand sped up too, so that all three hands on my watch were spinning like mad, backwards. I jumped up, staring around wildly, as if there was something in the room that would stop the freakiness of my watch.

The small square that told me the date now informed me that the date was the 24th – which it wasn't – as today was my mum's birthday, the 25th July! The dates cycled like the hands were doing, speeding up –

Then stopped. I blinked, peered closer at the watch, shook it. It was ticking innocently at me, as if it had just done nothing extraordinary, and it even had the nerve to say that the date and time were exactly the same as they had been when I had arrived at the school – 9:26am!

I took a shuddering breath and sat down on the cold stone floor. Nothing I had read or learnt in any of my many books could explain what had just happened. I was completely mystified. Perhaps the whole room was some idea of Peeves' – it seemed just like the sort of thing he would do. In fact, I thought angrily, I was prepared to bet that he was hiding somewhere watching me all along.

I stood up shakily, and yelled "Peeves!" expecting the poltergeist to come swooping out of a wall somewhere, cackling madly.

Nothing.

Maybe I had been mistaken? Maybe it wasn't Peeves?

However before I could think on the matter any longer, the door appeared with a peculiar whining noise.

"_Now_ it appears." I spluttered angrily to myself as I strode towards it, fastening my watch back on my wrist. I pulled it open, walked through, and slammed it with all the force I could muster. It disappeared.

"Good riddance!" I told the wall, and then looked around me. I recognised where I was immediately – fourth floor, outside the Transfiguration classroom. Sighing, I continued on my way to Professor Dumbledore's office.

Finally I arrived in the sunlit corridor where stood the gargoyle that guarded his office. I smiled at it.

"Hi, I have an appointment to see Professor Dumbledore?" it sat there, glaring at me, solid stone. I scowled back. What was it Harry had said after the Chamber of Secrets thing in second year? Something about the password to Professor Dumbledore's office having something to do with food, and more importantly... "Mars Bars!" I remembered reading the footnote on the letter from him, saying what he liked to eat. I now realised it must be the password, and waited expectantly.

The gargoyle did not move.

"Great." I frowned. Why would he give me a duff password? I tried again – maybe I hadn't said it clearly enough.

"M-a-r-s B-a-r-s." I spoke, intoning every letter. It still did not move.

I kicked it, then cursed and sat on the floor rubbing my foot. However it did make me feel slightly better.

"Would you just open, already?" I pleaded with the statue from my very submissive new position on the floor. Need I say what it did? (For the dumbos, it did not move)

"Right. Other possibilities. Umm..." I thought a moment.

"Popping candy? No? OK, um... How about... Cauldron Cakes? Fruit Pastilles? Dairy Milk? Galaxy?" The gargoyle sprang aside.

"Galaxy? Seriously? Well, who'd have known...?" Apparently Professor Dumbledore was a man after my own heart. I was extremely proud of him.

Standing up, I stepped onto the spiral staircase that had been revealed and started my ascent to the top. The door at the top was solid wood, with a knocker in the shape of a griffin. I knocked three times.

"Come in." I heard him reply.

I did so.

"Hi Professor, I'm sorry I'm so late – I somehow got lost (I mean, would you believe it? I've been here five years and I get lost?)... Anyhow, what was it you wanted to see me about?"

I sat in the chair opposite him. He looked slightly dazed.

"Professor? Are you alright?" I asked, slightly worried. He gave me an odd look.

"What did you say your name was, my dear?" He asked. I frowned. He obviously wasn't well at all if he didn't remember _me_.

"You know my name, Professor. You _have_ been my headmaster for the past five years, you know." I then realised that I had adopted the tone of voice one normally uses around the very elderly or infirm and gave him an apologetic look.

He gave the same look back.

"I'm afraid you must be mistaken, madam. I have seen you before in my life."

It was then that I realised that either Professor Dumbledore was very ill, or something was terribly wrong. I had a gut feeling that it was the latter.

This was not good.

**Dun dun d-un... evil cackle**

**sorry about the cliffy :) you love me really... :P**

**I love popping candy... and I have to say that Galaxy is my favourite too :)**

**Cookies for the reviewers and for those yet to review (or even galaxy if you're especially lucky!) :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: doesn't belong to me, folks...**

**Chapter 3**

_Previously:_

"_I'm afraid you must be mistaken, madam. I have seen you before in my life."_

_It was then that I realised that either Professor Dumbledore was very ill, or something was terribly wrong. I had a gut feeling that it was the latter._

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I stared at him. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I tried again, but before I could...

There was a knock on the door and Professor Snape walked in. Strange, I thought, detachedly, he usually strides about the place. And since when did he look so young? He was giving her a quizzical look and was obviously in the same predicament as Dumbledore – he didn't recognise her either, which ruled out senility.

_Come to think of it,_ I mused,_ he doesn't look that much older than me._

Then it struck me. I gasped and leapt to my feet. I must have looked pretty peculiar, judging by the looks on their faces, but didn't care.

"You – you... neither of you have seen me before. Correct?" I managed to blurt out. They both nodded dumbly, still looking as though they should call the men with straightjackets.

"But I've seen you before – both of you – and the room – and my watch – going backwards – Oh my giddy Aunt!" I exclaimed loudly. I turned to Dumbledore who looked a little amused at my last words.

"The date – Professor – what's the date?" I asked wildly.

Still appearing slightly bemused, but appearing to cotton on, he obliged, and waved his wand. A golden ribbon shot out the end, forming itself into 8 numbers – the date.

I sat, missing the chair completely, and ended up on the floor. However this did not seem to bother me and I was unable to regain control of my limbs anyway. My head was spinning. I had half expected the date that had emerged from Dumbledore's wand, but had not wanted to believe it. At the same time, it all became extremely amusing. I started to laugh; but it was not my normal laugh. It was a high pitched giggle, which was promptly accompanied by tears of laughter and, try as I might to stop, I could not. I could hear worried voices around me; the word 'hysterical' seemed to be repeated over and over again and I agreed with the voices – yes, I agreed, I was hysterical – I had just been given some bad news and should be allowed to be hysterical.

"It's the 25th of July today..." I hiccupped to myself, only half aware that I had been picked up in a strong pair of arms and was being carried somewhere. I poked one of the arms carrying me.

"It's the 25th July, 1982. My mum hasn't met my dad yet, I'm not born yet..."

I'm twenty years in the past."

It finally sunk in. I think I fainted, for I remember nothing more of that day.

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Sunlight was streaming in and onto my face from somewhere, making me screw my eyes up against the glare. I groaned and blearily opened my eyes; rubbing them with a hand I sat up, yawning. I tried to remember why I was in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, when it all came crashing back to me and I groaned loudly. Madame Pomphrey came bustling through from her office, obviously alerted by the noises I was making. I peered up at her.

"It was a dream, wasn't it?" I said hopefully. She looked at me pityingly, then shook her head.

"I'm afraid your magical records come up with you having been born in 1986 – which doesn't happen for another four years. You are quite the anomaly, Miss..." I then realised that I hadn't told anyone my name yet. I opened my mouth to speak, when a sudden thought struck me. What if, by being here, I could mess up the timeline even by doing something as small as telling someone my name? Professor Dumbledore and Snape already knew I was from the future, along with Madame Pomphrey, and it suddenly did not seem such a good idea to tell anyone else any more details. I drew a breath.

"Madame Pomphrey, do you think it would be OK if I could talk to the Headmaster, please? I don't want to mess up the timeline by telling anything more than I already have – yes, I know I haven't told you anything at all, please bear with me" I said quickly as she opened her mouth to speak "but I really don't want to be the cause of something really serious and think it would be best to be anonymous at the moment. If you don't mind, of course." I added quickly as she appeared to be getting ready to unleash a large rant. She was stopped by the appearance of Professor Dumbledore.

"I must congratulate you on your zeal to protect the timeline, but I don't think your first name would hurt anyone if you told it to us." He smiled kindly at me. "I was rather worried at first when you turned up out of the blue telling me that I knew you – I have been known to make mistakes but I do not believe I would make one as large as that." I giggled. _That_ sounded more like the Professor Dumbledore I knew.

"I'm Hermione." Dumbledore looked slightly subdued.

"I said your first name wouldn't hurt... however I think it best if we call you Mia, short for Amelia – Hermione is a little... rare. People would recognise it coming up for a second time." I nodded.

"I had similar doubts, Professor, so I trust your judgement. I was meaning to ask you – what do I tell Professor Snape? He knows that I'm from the future."

Dumbledore looked slightly perturbed by the title I used in front of Snape's name, and said so.

"It is obvious that he taught you at some point, Mia, but you will have to refrain from calling him that in other company – indeed, even to his face. The less he and others know about the future, the better.

"I believe we should tell him an abridged version of the truth – that you are a time traveller, and ended up here by accident – as I presume is the case, is it not, judging by your shock at the realisation of the date?" I nodded sheepishly. "I should be very interested to hear how you came to be here – then we can try and find a way to send you back. Poppy," he spoke to the Matron, "It would probably be best if as little people as possible know of this. I hope you will not be offended if I ask you to take a quick sojourn in your office?" Madame Pomphrey huffed, but acquiesced and retreated out of the ward. I took a deep breath and began to tell Dumbledore my story.

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**A/N Cookies to the reviewers and those yet to review...**

**I hope I portray Dumbledore OK – he is difficult to write!**

**Quick definition for those who may not have met acquiesced – it means 'to give in', also 'accept', 'consent' etc...**

**The phrase 'my giddy aunt' is one I have found myself using a lot... there is not going to be much swearing etc in this fic – the occasional word or two, depending on the character, but nothing major.**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Still does not belong to me, no matter how hard I try to persuade... :)**

**Also many thanks to rockchick94, who gave me my first review ever!! Following her orders I am updating – I will try to do so as often as I can, however I have a week of exams next week so apologies in advance if there are big gaps... :)**

**Xx**

**Chapter 4**

_**Previously:**_

_I took a deep breath and began to tell Dumbledore my story._

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After I had finished, Professor Dumbledore looked slightly surprised.

"A room, you say, on the fifth floor?" I nodded. He frowned.

"I have never heard of such a room existing. However," he added with a brief smile, "I must admit Hogwarts still surprises me. The other night, for example, I came across a whole section in the library that I had not previously seen – then when I returned to visit it again the next day, it had vanished. Curious things, libraries. You never know when they will divulge their secrets outside of reading the books they hold." I nodded, making a mental note to search the library inside and out for the section he had described – not, of course, because I felt an inane need to learn, just because it would be interesting! Cough.

Hastily moving on, I brought up the topic of my cover story.

"Professor? Can we work out what my cover story will be – I mean, I can hardly go around telling people I have been attending Hogwarts for the past five years if they've never seen me before, can I? And I need a surname..." I trailed off, pondering which name to use, however Dumbledore answered me before I could reach a conclusion.

"I believe it would be beneficial if you were to be a relation of myself – my... great grand-niece would work, I think. Your mother – now, let me see... she would be my sister's granddaughter – has just died and wanted you to be sent here. You have been homeschooled until now..."

As Professor Dumbledore continued to tell me my life-story, I committed what I could to memory. I pride myself in having a rather good memory – I tend to remember most of what I read, so can drag up old newspaper articles from years before and refer to them if I ever need to (not that I've ever found myself in that position!). It's a peculiar form of photographic memory, and I am extremely grateful to have it – it makes exams so much easier!

Anyway, I was relieved to find out that Dumbledore's sister's granddaughter – who, incidentally was entirely fictional – was to have married a Welsh muggle called Owen Jones, so my surname was nothing particularly difficult to memorize. I just needed to remember to answer when called 'Miss Jones' by teachers – I could picture myself in the situation where someone was calling my name and I didn't realise... How embarrassing would that be?!

Professor Dumbledore seemed to be getting a little carried away with inventing me a background – he was now telling me about the (fictional) carnival that I went to with my (fictional) mother on my fifth birthday with my (fictional) best friend, Jenny. At that point I thought it high time he stopped before I ended up with a split personality.

"Professor – I reckon that will be good enough. I doubt anyone will quiz me on my knowledge of fairground rides; if they do, I'm muggleborn so know a fair amount about them!" He looked slightly disappointed at the prospect of stopping, but conceded.

"I apologise, Miss Jones – I do not get enough opportunities to invent people. I should try and do it more often... Maybe I could write a book on the subject." I couldn't think of anything to say to this rather odd statement, so just nodded, pretend attentively. Thankfully, a knock on the Hospital Wing door provided a rather welcome break to what would have been a rather long-winded explanation about inventing people. Don't get me wrong – Professor Dumbledore is a lovely person, but he does tend to go on a little.

At this point I realised that I was, very possibly, being slightly hypocritical – after all, I did the same thing to people when talking on a topic I liked – and they did the same as I was doing at present. Glazed eyes, nodding occasionally, pretend interest... I really couldn't criticize Dumbledore for something I did myself!

My guilty expression went unnoticed as it changed to one of surprise when Snape walked in the door. He seemed determined to ignore me; instead he spoke to Professor Dumbledore.

"Headmaster. Lily Evans has arrived at the school and is determined to talk to you, for some reason. I tried to show her to your office, but she insisted on accompanying me here to find you." He looked rather disgruntled. Obviously Snape had always been... well, Snape-ish!

Then a thought struck me full in the face. Lily Evans?

As in 'Lily Potter'? It couldn't be! My mind was spinning. I vaguely heard Dumbledore reply to Snape then quietly say something to me about it being 'a good time to practice my cover story'. Before I could pull myself together, though, a girl my age, with fiery red hair similar to Ginny's, had come bursting through the Hospital wing doors. My hunch was right.

I had seen pictures of Harry's mum in the photo album Hagrid had given him – the Lily Evans standing in the doorway was the Lily Potter in the photos. She had the same vivid green eyes as he did which, currently, were screwed up in either anger or pain, I was too shocked to work out which. I was looking at Harry's mum.

He would kill me when I got back – I had a chance, right now, to save her. I could tell her everything, trust her to be sensible enough to do something different... Harry would have a family – wouldn't have to live with the Dursleys, wouldn't spend his childhood wishing for the one thing he could never have back.

Then I realised that I couldn't. Maybe it was my telling her that had caused Pettigrew to turn spy – obviously I had to have travelled back in time for this to happen, but obviously I was here now, wasn't I? Maybe him knowing he was capable of it was what had caused him to betray his friends? Maybe – and I gulped as I thought this – maybe, if I tried to save them, they would end up dead anyway, and it would all be my fault.

Harry would not vanquish Voldemort at the tender age of one, and life as I had known it would cease to exist. Maybe Harry's parents had to die for him to have a chance against the Dark Lord.

The only way forwards was to continue in secrecy.

This thought process took a maximum of three seconds to occur, after which I managed to focus on the room at large, even though my head was still spinning at this revelation. I did not notice, however, that Snape had obviously seen the various emotions flickering across my face, and was looking pensive.

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**A/N bit shorter than the others but here seemed like a good place to stop...**

**Thanks also to Claz, Ellerosse and rockchick94 who added my story to their favourites list – for once in my life, guys, I feel popular! :)**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Not mine, people, although I live in hope that the lovely JK will one day relinquish copyright to me... :)**

**A/N: Hiya! Hoping everyone is liking the story so far...**

**I must admit that the fact that I have had positive feedback has scared me slightly – I now actually have to continue writing... I hope my muse doesn't give up on me... :S**

**Onwards faithful readers!**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**Chapter 5**

_**Previously:**_

_The only way forwards was to continue in secrecy._

_This thought process took a maximum of three seconds to occur, after which I managed to focus on the room at large, even though my head was still spinning at this revelation. I did not notice, however, that Snape had obviously seen the various emotions flickering across my face, and was looking pensive._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Professor!" Lily exclaimed. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Dumbledore stood and put an arm around her, then spoke.

"Lily, I appreciate that you are upset, but now is not the right time to discuss it." He sounded as if what was upsetting Lily was something sensitive that Snape and I should not overhear. Lily obviously agreed as she nodded, sniffing. "We will talk later. In the meantime," Dumbledore waved a hand in my direction, smiling, "May I introduce you to my great grand-niece?"

_Great. Thanks a bunch, Dumbledore, for dropping me in it,_ I thought acidly, as Lily's eyes widened.

"Really? Nice to meet you, I'm Lily Evans." She approached me, hand stuck out, and I shook it, smiling.

"Mia Jones."

"So what are you doing here?"

I arranged my features into what I could only hope looked like someone bereaved.

"My mother... passed away last month. She wanted me to come here and further my education." I sniffed, hoping I wasn't overdoing it. However Lily was buying it, as she gave me an awkward hug (well, it is difficult to hug someone when you are standing and they are lying down!) and looked sympathetic and mildly upset at having touched on such a sensitive topic.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. If you need to talk about it at all, I'll probably be sharing a room with you this year – you're going into sixth year, yes?" I looked up at her, Harry's vivid green eyes conveying nothing but sympathy for my situation.

"Thanks, and yes – sixth year." I sounded choked up, but not on purpose this time – seeing those eyes looking at me, as Harry's had done so many times in the... well, future – made me miss him and Ron even more.

Yes, I admit it, even though he can be a git sometimes, I even missed Ron.

"I'll leave you two girls here to chat, alright?" Dumbledore stood up to leave. My face must have shown my panic, as Lily said teasingly,

"Don't worry, I don't bite." I grinned.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's the same expression Severus gets on his face when I mention-"

"Thanks, Lily, but I would rather you didn't divulge that information to the first friendly face you meet." Snape spoke for the first time. As I hadn't been around him for very long, I had no idea as to whether the annoyed look on his face was genuine or whether he was pulling Lily's leg. Apparently it wasn't, or Lily wasn't scared of being used as a potions ingredient, because she bounced over to him and pulled him by the arm to the chair on the other side of the bed, laughing. At this point I noticed Dumbledore sidle out of the door, closing it quietly behind him. I glared at the door. _Trust him to leave me to fend for myself, _and_ on only my second day in the past._

I actually rather enjoyed myself. Lily was a very outgoing, bubbly person, who loved to chat about everything and anything. She was also very easy to talk to – I was reminded of a nice journalist I had once met who talked about how easy it was to get information out of people if you showed your friendly side. Lily ended up getting more out of me than I had anticipated – soon I was telling her things about my life before Hogwarts. However I made sure not to slip up. Although Lily was very good at getting things out of me, I also got quite a bit of juicy gossip about the teachers that I had not heard before. Apparently the dear Matron who was keeping me locked in the Hospital Wing fancied herself as a bit of a bellet dancer – and even had the _Pointe_ shoes hanging on the wall in her office to prove it! This revelation led to Lily and I discussing our own childhood experiences of ballet - after a while of this, Severus (as I had been persuaded to call him by a very adamant Lily) escaped and Lily and I were left alone.

It was then that she told me why Severus (that doesn't get any less strange, calling a teacher by their first name!) had reacted so when she tried to tell me about our similar expressions. Apparently she is very similar to me, and her behaviour becomes rather ferocious around exam time. This particular incident was during the summer term in their fourth year, when Lily and Severus were studying together in the Great Hall. Lily had become so fed up with his refusal to quiz her (he maintained that she always managed to bruise him with the textbook somehow and would not allow her to torture him again) that she quizzed him instead and hit him with the textbook for every wrong answer. Needless to say, from then on, he adopted an expression of total panic whenever she mentioned the words 'quiz me'.

Lily and I got on so well we did not notice how long we had been talking until Madame Pomphrey bustled in, carrying a tray. She tried to scoot Lily out of the room but, after a bit of wheedling on Lily's part, she was allowed to stay and eat with me. We continued to talk over dinner, and only stopped when Dumbledore came in to take Lily to his office to talk about whatever sensitive matters had upset her earlier. I said goodbye, and Dumbledore ushered Lily out of the room (not before a quiet congratulations on my acting skills).

Now I was left to my own devices, I had time to make some sort of sense of the day's events. I had just been introduced to Harry's mother, and to a different side of Professor Snape – a cheerful one, that I had been led to believe did not exist. However I was left with some unanswered questions, two of which were burning in my mind.

Why was Snape at Hogwarts? It was the summer holidays – school didn't go back for another month at least – and no student has ever been allowed to stay over the holidays, not according to _'Hogwarts, a History'_.

Also, what had Lily been so upset about? And what did Professor Dumbledore have to do with it?

I determined to find out what I could the next day, if Madame Pomphrey let me out, of course. I was also set on finding the extra section in the library that Dumbledore had talked about.

Then, of course, was the major nagging problem. How to get back to 2002, and fast?

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**A/N Thanks to the reviewers – you know who you are... :)**

**Please, if you are reading and haven't reviewed, I would appreciate any comments – one liners are fine – just to convince me to continue! You wouldn't believe how much time one spends writing one chapter – I spent the better part of four hours on the last two alone when I should have been revising... you guys had better appreciate it!!**

**Mini rant over – sorry to subject you to that.. :) - cookies for y'all!**

**Xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Discaimer: I had a dream last night that JK Rowling had handed me legal rights to Harry Potter and co... and was very disappointed when I woke up and realised that it was just that – a dream :)**

**A/N: heya folks, thanks to all my reviewers and people who added my story to their favourites list - you all know who you are :) cookies to y'all :)**

**Onwards! (at this point I get a peculiar need to sing 'Onwards Christian Soldiers', but I doubt my peers in the study room would forgive me...)**

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**Chapter 6**

_**Previously:**_

_I determined to find out what I could the next day, if Madame Pomphrey let me out, of course. I was also set on finding the extra section in the library that Dumbledore had talked about._

_Then, of course, was the major nagging problem. How to get back to 2002, and fast?_

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

The next day I spent the morning champing at the bit in the Hospital Wing, trying to persuade Madame Pomphrey to let me go – I felt perfectly fine and I had just wasted what could have been a full morning of searching the library for the section Dumbledore had talked about.

"Miss Jones, will you please hold still!" Madame Pomphrey squawked indignantly as I bounced up and down on the bed in frustration. She was trying to take a magical reading of my state of being, and failing miserably.

What little patience she had had with me appeared to finally wear out, and she relented on her initial statement that morning that I would be let out the following day.

"Miss Jones, if you let me take this reading, and it is satisfactory, you will be allowed to leave. _Only_," she said, fixing me with a stern glare as I suddenly became rooted to the bed, "if it is satisfactory."

She took the reading, harrumphed, and stated in an obviously disgruntled tone,

"I see nothing wrong with you anymore. Hold on a minute!" She added sternly as I leapt out of the bed and made a break for the door, "I want you to come back here _immediately_ if you feel another panic attack come on. You might also want this back." She handed me my wand, and stomped grumpily into her office, slamming the door behind her.

I was on my way out when I caught a reflection of myself in one of the windows – and barely managed to conceal a cry of horror. Madame Pomphrey must have changed me into pyjamas the previous day – mind you, pyjamas was a very loose description of the item of clothing I was wearing. It was a white, floor-length, embroidered, nightgown that was the sort that even my grandmother would not have deemed wearable. It had no shape whatsoever and made me look like Nearly Headless Nick's corpse bride! I gave a shudder at Madame Pomphrey's fashion taste and determined to change out of it as soon as I could – then I realised that I had no clothes to change into, and that I didn't know any useful transfiguration charms for clothes. Great. I would have to wander the halls, hopefully without being noticed, and find Professor Dumbledore. Hopefully he could whip up a set of robes – I wasn't planning on asking Madame Pomphrey to do so any time soon, judging on my current state!

The halls seemed eerily empty, and for a split second I wondered why. However a few seconds later I could have smacked myself – it was the summer holidays still, and there was no one at school save for a few teachers. That theory was soon scrubbed out of my mind, however, when I rounded a corner and saw-

Sirius?

I groaned quietly and hid in an alcove, desperately trying to figure out what to do. I didn't want my first meeting with a future acquaintance to be one in which I was wearing the mother of all hideous dresses! I thought quickly. Maybe the similarity to one of the Hogwarts ghosts could come in handy?

_Five minutes later_

Sirius Black was standing outside of Professor Dumbledore's office, trying to gain entry. He had tried every sweet he could think of, and yet the gargoyle remained resolutely shut. Letting out an exclamation of frustration, he spun on the spot and flopped onto the floor at the foot of the statue, absentmindedly flicking his long, black hair out of his eyes.

A white shape rounded the corner – a ghost. She was about his age, and obviously had been asleep in the pre-Victorian era when she died – she was wearing the most hideous nightgown. A silvery stain covered her stomach (obviously due to an unseen stab wound that had culminated in her death). He couldn't help but notice that, had she been alive, she would have been extremely pretty. She floated towards him looking sombre but did not look at him once as she floated up to the gargoyle and whispered,

"_Galaxy."_

The gargoyle sprang aside and Sirius, who had been leaning on him, fell over backwards – directly in the way of this apparition, who now appeared slightly annoyed. Relying on his old charm, he purposefully propped himself up on one arm and flicked his hair back again.

"Hello there! You must be new round here – I've never seen you before." He stood, holding out a hand to shake hers.

She looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Good afternoon, young man. Prithee – why dost thou block my path, and make jest at my plight? Is it not as plain as the earth is flat that I am no more, and therefore cannot exchange greetings with you, mortal?"

He blinked. Obviously the 'old charm' wasn't working particularly well – he had assumed that she, like every other girl in Hogwarts, would be falling over her own feet to greet the notorious Sirius Black.

"Well, madam," he said, trying (and failing) to copy her old English, "If you are no more, why cannot you simply glide through my mortal body and up the stairs?"

She seemed panicked for a second, then her face resumed its previous expression of calm indifference.

"I make it a rule, young man, to do to others as I would wish to be done to myself. I would not wish for a departed soul to float through my corpse, so I endeavour not to do so to others. I know I am departed from this world, and yet," she looked very sad as she added, "I attempt to act as I did when I was mortal."

She gave him a stern look that reminded him of a certain Transfiguration teacher, obviously reprimanding him for his thoughtlessness. He felt rather sorry for the ghost and decided to let her pass - the possibility that she was related to that 'certain Transfiguration teacher' had nothing to do with it, of course (!). Bowing, he stepped aside, making a sweeping gesture with his arm as if to say 'after you, milady'. She gave him a mildly annoyed look, but graciously muttered 'thank you', then proceeded to climb the stairs. The gargoyle slid shut behind her. Sirius Black sat back down on the floor. He would give her five minutes, then follow himself – obviously she needed to see the headmaster too. He wondered what 'galaxy' was – if Dumbledore was sticking to the whole 'food' thing for his passwords, why 'galaxy'? That had nothing to do with food – it was Astronomy! He shrugged and stood up.

He could not quite shake off the thought that she would have been extremely pretty, had she been alive.

_Ten minutes earlier_

I ducked back into the crevice in the wall, and proceeded to carry out the first part of my plan. I remembered the conversation with Lily the previous day and that Madame Pomphrey had a pair of ballet shoes on her wall in the Hospital Wing. I checked my watch. It should just work – she would be out of her office and would hopefully not notice.

"_Accio ballet shoes!"_ I whispered. A minute later a pair of heavy pointes came hurtling towards me and I caught them just in time to prevent them hitting me in the face.

My plan was quite simple (well, relatively, anyway). I would pretend to be a ghost – the floating effect would be because of the pointes (I had always been quite good at pointe-work and was sure I would be able to pull it off) and I would charm myself to look as if i had been stabbed – ghost style.

A few minutes later, I was wobbling around in the corridor before the stretch in which Sirius was grumpily trying different passwords. I had just about got the hang of the shoes.

I cast the last charm – one that I had used at last year's Halloween party in the Gryffindor common room, to great effect (Ron actually thought I had died). It turned the receiver transparent, like a ghost. I grinned nervously to myself.

Spell cast, I wished myself luck, then silently drifted down the hall towards Sirius, at the same time as he let out a shout of frustration and sat on the floor. I was hoping that he wouldn't speak to me – I had a fair idea as to how to speak old English, from reading Shakespeare, but wasn't sure that I would be able to keep up the act.

He looked up, suddenly noticing me floating towards him. I arranged my features to (hopefully) one of gloom and indifference. I floated up to the gargoyle and did my best at a ghostly whisper, giving the gargoyle the password.

"_Galaxy."_

I just about managed to refrain from giggling as the gargoyle sprang aside and Sirius, who had been leaning on him, fell over backwards – then did not find it very funny as he fell directly in the way. I was annoyed with myself – how had I not thought of this? Of course he would fall in the way if he was leaning on the statue!

I couldn't help but notice how handsome the younger version of Sirius was as he purposefully propped himself up on one arm and flicked his hair back with a hand.

"Hello there! You must be new round here – I've never seen you before." He stood, holding out a hand to shake mine.

For a horrible moment I thought he had realised that I was not a ghost. Brain whizzing wildly, it then struck me that, if he had realised that, he would not be talking to me nicely, he would be looking at me as if I was crazy for wearing such clothes.

I looked at him, cross with myself for not planning for this contingency. He wasn't supposed to talk to me! Great. Now I would have to say something in return – and fast. He was still standing in front of me, holding out his hand, grinning at me. I decided to bluff my way through.

"Good afternoon, young man. Prithee – why dost thou block my path, and make jest at my plight? Is it not as plain as the earth is flat that I am no more, and therefore cannot exchange greetings with you, mortal?"

He blinked, and the grin faltered as I congratulated myself at my smooth (I hoped) Elizabethan English. He obviously decided that two can play at that game.

"Well, madam," he said, trying (and failing) to copy me (I thought about rolling my eyes, but decided that an Elizabethan ghost would not do such things), "If you are no more, why cannot you simply glide through my mortal body and up the stairs?"

I panicked. I hadn't thought of the whole 'walk through things' side of being (or pretending to be) a ghost. Thinking quickly, I hoped my expression had not given me away and resumed my calm indifference (I hoped).

"I make it a rule, young man, to do to others as I would wish to be done to myself. I would not wish for a departed soul to float through my corpse, so I endeavour not to do so to others. I know I am departed from this world, and yet," I tried to look sad, "I attempt to act as I did when I was mortal."

I gave him a stern look, trying to make him feel bad for bringing up such a hard subject for me and could have grinned from ear to ear when it all worked and he stepped aside. (I couldn't help but notice that he appeared a little perturbed by something I had done, I was not sure what it had been). However, as soon as he had stepped aside, he made mockery of my fate once again (by this point I was enjoying myself and really getting into character)! He bowed, moving his arm in a sweeping gesture as if to say 'after you, milady'. I gave him what I hoped had been an aristocratic, annoyed look, then graciously muttered 'thankyou', and started to climb the stairs. As the gargoyle slid shut behind me, I heard a muttered, "Galaxy? What sort of food is that?" and rolled my eyes – _idiotic pureblood_, I thought affectionately. I did a little dance on the spot, as the revolving staircase carried me upwards. My plan had worked, and Sirius Black was none the wiser.

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**A/N: this chapter is dedicated to pinkpoodle7 who suggested putting Sirius in sometime soon – I hadn't planned to put him in for a bit, but he put on the old charm and smiled at me... so I had to :)**

**This one wanted to be a bit longer so I let it – five whole pages, guys! Come on – you have to be impressed that I had the time for this – I had my biology mock today and am positive I failed it... I was doing this instead of revising... :S oops?**

**Also thanks to KooleyAid who pointed out that I have my timings wrong - I have gone by the publishing date of the first book as the year Hermione was in first year as I hadn't got access to Wiki etc when I was writing chapter 3 :) I can't be bothered to go back and change the dates now so please forgive me :)**

**Please review! xxx**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**xxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**** The characters belong to the wonderful JK Rowling, I simply play with them for my own amusement...**

**A/N: Hi guys, I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update – my exams decided to exert more pressure on me than I had anticipated and so I have been extremely stressed this past week and a bit and hence unable to write anything other than Chemistry... Hopefully this chappie will make up for the long wait you've all had!**

**Thanks very much to all who have reviewed, you know who you are and can I just say you are fantastic! I'm extremely chuffed to have such great people being nice about my random blatherings... :)**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

**X**

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**Chapter 7**

_Previously__: As the gargoyle slid shut behind me, I heard a muttered, "Galaxy? What sort of food is that?" and rolled my eyes – idiotic pureblood, I thought affectionately. I did a little dance on the spot, as the revolving staircase carried me upwards. My plan had worked, and Sirius Black was none the wiser._

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I was so happy to have succeeded in my plan to get past Sirius that I completely forgot to take off the spells that I had placed on myself. Needless to say, Dumbledore received quite a fright when I wandered in, looking the part of a departed soul. He jumped up from his chair, blue eyes wide.

"Miss Jones! Are you – I mean, when did you... oh." The smile reappeared as I realised what he was worried about and took the spells off.

"For horrible moment there I thought you had died... a very good costume, I must say." He sat back down, studying my apparel. He frowned.

"Why do I recognise that?" I answered his question.

"Madame Pomphrey, sir," I said, wrinkling my nose in distaste. He understood what I was talking about immediately and chuckled, his eyes twinkling.

"I agree with your sentiments there, my dear. Poppy has never really come out of the Dark Ages when it comes to fashion sense – I'm sure even I could have come up with something better..." He trailed off.

"Professor, my clothing was the exact reason I came to see you – I have none of my own in this time and am stuck in this hideous gown. I was hoping I would be able to borrow some Galleons from you to kit myself out and pay you back..."

"Certainly not, my dear!" He frowned, pulling out a sack from his desk. "You will _have_ some Galleons and I do not expect repayment now, or in your time." He looked sternly at me over his half-moon spectacles as he handed me the bag.

"If you're sure, Professor..." I took the bag from him, hating to have to accept charity. Oh well, at least I could pay him back in my own way by finding that section of the library again – and a large Christmas present wouldn't go amiss, either. As I tried to put the bag somewhere useful and failed, I recalled the reason I had come to Dumbledore in the first place.

"Professor, for the time being, as I have to actually get to Hogsmeade before I can buy some clothes, please could you transfigure this white... thing... into something a little more appropriate? I would have done it myself but I don't know any clothes transfiguring spells yet." I planned to remedy that at the first opportunity I had.

Dumbledore smiled at me, and flicked his wand. An instant later I was dressed in everyday robes – multicoloured, everyday robes. I had no chance to change the colour, however, before there was a knock on the door and Sirius Black burst into the room. _Well_, I mused, _better multicoloured than white and frilly_.

"Hi Professor!" He appeared as hyper as a small puppy and was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Dumbledore did not seem particularly bemused by this, but smiled at him.

"Mr Black. If I could introduce my great grand-niece, Mia Jones." He gestured at me. I turned to face Sirius, who eyed my robes, then obviously decided that as long as it was female, and relatively pretty it could be dressed in a sack for all he cared. He smiled a 'winning' smile, and flicked his hair back carelessly with a hand, then stuck out the other for me to shake, and introduced himself.

"Black, Sirius Black. Nice to meet you." I giggled despite myself, then trained my features into calm amusement and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr Black."

"Oh, no, I'm Sirius to my friends. I hope you will be my friend?" He gave me a puppy-dog-eyes look.

"Well, it all depends on how much chocolate you are prepared to offer me to keep me in your company – one bar per day, you know. I'm not cheap." I grinned despite myself, inwardly marvelling at the ease I matched Sirius' playful banter.

"I don't have any on me at the moment, I'm afraid."

"Oh well, looks like we won't be friends after all. Nice knowing you briefly." I grinned and turned back to Dumbledore, who was watching our conversation with an amused smile on his face.

"Mia, would you mind waiting outside, please? I need to talk to Mr Black and then, I hope, he will be able to direct you in the direction of Hogsmeade?" He looked inquiringly at Sirius, who grinned at me and nodded his assent. For a moment I wondered why Dumbledore would be getting someone to show me the way to a place I knew already, but then realised that it would appear strange if I knew everything about Hogwarts and Hogsmeade already.

"Excellent. Thank you, Mia, for the pleasure of your company. I will see you at supper tonight it the Great Hall – Mr Black will hopefully give you a guided tour on your way to the front gates."

The thought that Dumbledore was setting me up with Sirius crossed my mind, but I brushed it away impatiently and stood.

"Thank you, Granddad. I'll wait at the bottom of the stairs, by the gargoyle." I directed the last at Sirius, who had the trace of a frown on his face. He smiled at me; I smiled at him, and then exited the room. I seemed to be smiling at him a lot, I mused, as I stepped off the stairs and settled myself down by the gargoyle to wait for Sirius.

I had performed a colour-change charm on my robes (which were now a deep purple blue), checked my appearance in a hastily conjured mirror before the gargoyle jumped aside – thankfully in the opposite direction to the wall I was leaning against – and Sirius stepped out. He looked around, obviously looking for me, and obviously not noticing me sitting on the floor behind him. I stood up and gave a loud cough, then giggled as he jumped a foot in the air and spun round to face me, an accusatory look on his face.

"I didn't see you there! That wasn't nice, making me jump like that." I rolled my eyes as he swept his hair back again – that was going to get pretty annoying.

"Shall we go?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Come on then!" He set off at a brisk walk and I ran a little to catch up with him.

"So, why are you here?"

"My mother died. She said I was to come here and continue my education." He looked at me sadly.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"Yeah. I miss her." My mind replaced 'her' with 'them', and I thought of Harry and Ron for an instant. It was too much of a painful thought that I pushed it away and made an attempt at a smile.

"So you're a sixth year, right?" Sirius grinned.

"Yep. You'll love it here – just wait until I introduce you to the Marauders and the other sixth year Gryffs... Hang on," he looked suddenly worried, "You _are_ a Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I got sorted when I arrived. What are Marauders?" I stumbled over the familiar yet unfamiliar word.

"It's the name me and my mates have given ourselves – we maraud, you see. Cause trouble? Prank? Have fun?" He added hopefully.

"I know what it means – it actually means 'looters', or 'raiders', but I have a feeling it wasn't chosen for its meaning."

"Nah. James read it in a book and liked the sound of it." I nodded along with him, then realised I should probably ask about the identity of James.

"James? Is he another Marauder?"

"Yup – and my bestest friend since I was knee high to a house elf. The other Marauders are Remus Lupin – resident dictionary, chocoholic, and Peter Pettigrew – um... actually he just tags along. Doesn't really do much." He grinned at me. "So... why the sudden change in outfit?" It appeared an innocent question, but I had the feeling he had wanted to ask about the clothing since Dumbledore's office.

"Oh!" I scrabbled frantically for an excuse. "That... poltergeist – Reeves, I think Graddad called him – he somehow changed the colour. They only just changed back – I'm actually pretty glad they did – I wouldn't have wanted to wander around a town in multicoloured robes!"

"Peeves. Yeah, he tends to annoy the student population – I reckon he pranked you because you are one of the only students here – he must have had a pretty boring summer." This opened an excellent opportunity to ask him something I had been dying to ask.

"Why are you here, then – from what I gather, students aren't allowed to stay here over the summer. I mean, Lily and Severus were only here because they wanted to use the library and potions room respectively, but I don't see why you would be here." Little did I realise I had made a fatal error.

"I had to ask Dumbledore about – hang on, did you say _Severus_?!"

"Yes, why?" I replied, nonplussed. He was looking at me as if I was crazy.

"I'll excuse you this time, seeing as you're new, but _Snivellus _is a _Slytherin_ and is the Marauders' worst enemy."

"Why?" I was interested to find out why he hated my future Potions teacher – when I had met Snape he had been friendly, if quiet, and had not given me any reason to dislike him.

Sirius appeared stumped. After a moment's deliberation, during which we started down the stairs into the Entrance Hall, he said,

"Well, it's just that he doesn't like us, and goes out of his way to cause us grief. He's a Slytherin – they all do that." I was so astonished at the prejudice he was showing that I drew to a halt at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm sure he doesn't continue annoying you for no reason whatsoever – what did you do to him? And Severus being a Slytherin has nothing to do with it!"

He appeared to be fighting the urge to snap at me.

"He's always been the one attacking us – the Marauders – and we aren't about to take that lying down!"

"Well, from what I gather he is very nice, enjoys Potions and reading books, and likes to learn."

He looked at me, astounded.

"That's not bad? Come on, find me a person who likes all those things and isn't Snivellus or some random teacher!" I glared at him.

"His name is _Severus_ and _I_ happen to like all those things I just mentioned." I turned to face him head-on, hands on hips, waiting for a response.

"Well... that's just... you're completely missing the point!" He spluttered at me, reminding me of Ron after the Yule Ball.

"No, Sirius Black, _you_ are missing the point. I don't see how someone who is as nice as you can be so mean at the same time! Studying isn't bad, neither is actually having a passing interest in something besides blowing things up and changing people's hair colour! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do and I do not plan on doing them with a prejudiced git." I pushed past him, and made my way into the grounds, leaving him standing in the Entrance Hall, gaping after me.

I realised that I should at least appear not to know where to go, so I pulled out my wand and whispered,

"Point me Hogsmeade."

I pretended to follow my wand all the way to Hogsmeade, whereas I was on auto-pilot. How could Sirius appear so nice at first, then be so bigoted the next? I could not believe I had almost fallen for the 'hot guy' act and was extremely glad I had seen the other side of him before it was too late. Even still, I thought wistfully, those grey eyes were something else. If only the person behind them wasn't such an idiot.

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**A/N: ducks the bombs I know they've only just met and there are a lot of HGSB shippers out there, but things will get better! There is a phrase: it has to get worse before it can get better :) So please don't be too mad – I have lots of nice things you will like planned in :)**

**Hope everyone is enjoying, please R&R, and you get a cookie... two if I'm feeling generous :)**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** Still not mine – I wish it was, then I could drop out of school :) and have no more work...**

**A/N: I am sooo sorry I haven't updated for ages – my teachers have suddenly decided that the best way to teach people is to dump piles of work on them and I have only just managed to stick my head out of the sea today! Add all this to an upcoming Grade 7 Piano exam (in two weeks so I really should be practicing!) and I am feeling extremely stressed out!**

**Anyway, you don't really want to hear about my crappy life, you're just here to read the story!**

**Onwards and (hopefully) upwards...**

**Xxx**

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**Chapter 8**

_Previously:__I pretended to follow my wand all the way to Hogsmeade, whereas I was on auto-pilot. How could Sirius appear so nice at first, then be so bigoted the next? I could not believe I had almost fallen for the 'hot guy' act and was extremely glad I had seen the other side of him before it was too late. Even still, I thought wistfully, those grey eyes were something else. If only the person behind them wasn't such an idiot._

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Once in Hogsmeade, I made my way around the various shops, stocking up on supplies for school. When I opened the bag Dumbledore had given me in the Hogsmeade branch of Flourish and Blotts, I found he had kindly written a list of all the books and equipment I would need for the coming academic year. I was glad to see that he had entered me for the best subjects, and that Divination was nowhere in sight. Not that I have anything against Divination, per se, but it isn't a particularly academic subject and half of the textbooks seem to have been made up by people on moon-dust. I much prefer Ancient Runes, and was very glad that this had been one of the subjects I had been put down for.

After finding the course-specific books that I was required to get, I spent a bit of time browsing for myself. It is a habit of mine to comfort myself with new books whenever I feel unhappy and have the opportunity to do so and, seeing as I was more unhappy than normal, I decided to extend the number of books I allowed myself to three instead of just one. However it is all very well saying "just three, Hermione" – actually doing so is much harder than it may seem, especially when I had a choice between 'Moste Usefule Spelles' and 'Forgotten Runes'.

In the end I left with 'Ancient Wonders of the Magical World', 'Moste Usefule Spelles', and 'Runes and the Romans', an interesting looking account of a wizard who used runic magic to travel back in time to the Roman Era. _Could be useful, _I thought hopefully, _and even if it isn't, it'll at least be an interesting read._ 'Forgotten Runes' I asked the shopkeeper to keep aside for me – it was too interesting a book to just put back on the shelf and I decided I would pick it up at a later date. Pausing only to send a yearning look at the books I had left behind, and to shrink the ones I had acquired, I left the shop for Madame Malkin's.

The shop assistant who fitted me for my robes was the sort you couldn't help but like. She was very chatty and cheerful, very Irish, and had a wicked sense of humour. Something about her helped alleviate the gloom I had sunk into since Sirius had shown his true colours (books only do so much!). I caught myself just in time before a potential slip of the tongue could give me away – maybe she was too chatty...

I left Madame Malkin's with three sets of school robes and a promise to meet up with Fiona the next time I was in Hogsmeade ("Honestly, Mia, you have no idea how boring it is working in a clothes shop – I could do with a break!"). I was decidedly more cheerful as I made my way round Scrivenshafts' and the apothecary, and exited the pet shop with a stripey grey kneazle whose slightly squashed face reminded me of Crookshanks. Again, I shrank all my purchases except the cat, now named Mika, who jumped out of my arms and wound her way round my legs.

A loud grumble from my stomach reminded me that it was half past six and high time for sustenance, so I approached the Three Broomsticks. Whilst ordering fish and chips, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to have joined Professor Dumbledore for supper in the Great Hall... five minutes ago! I sighed – I really wanted the fish and chips but did not want to seem rude and not turn up to dinner. What to do?

A small 'miaow' from my lap reminded me of my newest acquisition. Of course! I had a sensible, clever kneazle kitten who could carry messages, just like Crookshanks! I scribbled a note to Dumbledore, apologising and telling him I would see him the next day at breakfast, and then turned to my cat, just as the fish and chips arrived.

"Could you take this to Professor Dumbledore for me, d'you think?" I peered at Mika. She seemed to sigh, then nicked part of my fish as payment and took the note in her mouth. I watched her go with a slightly wrinkled nose – hopefully Dumbledore wouldn't mind the fishy qualities of the note.

I spent the next twenty minutes lost in my fish. This was the one meal that the wizarding community could do just as well as the London markets: if anything, it was even better thanks to the spell preventing it from overcooking.

_The chips could do with a little salt_, I thought aimlessly, and silently summoned the salt shaker from the next table. I had mastered silent spellwork over the summer, after finding out it was on the next year's syllabus. Being the perfectionist I am, I wanted to learn it before school started so I would have more time to focus on learning the actual spells themselves, rather than the method in which they were cast.

Fred and George had been a great help in learning it – I spent the summer at the Burrow and after walking in on them performing magic, and doing my usual bit (which involved whispering furiously that they would surely be expelled – whispering was necessary because, as much as they were breaking rules, being yelled at by Mrs Weasley was worse than being expelled). Once I had calmed down and no letter had arrived, they explained that the ministry couldn't detect magic in all-wizarding households, and that they were perfectly safe. They proceeded to demonstrate with a nice bit of silent transfiguration and I managed to persuade them to teach me silent spellwork (the deal went something along the lines of "I'll lay off this year and let you sell whatever you want." "Really? Whatever we want?" "Well," I hastily backtracked, "within reason and as long as it's not dangerous." "Well..." "Please!" "OK, OK!").

I smiled sadly into my butterbeer – they would definitely be able to do whatever they wanted now, as I wouldn't be there to stop them. _Stop it, Hermione, _I told myself firmly, and exited Memory Lane. _You will find a way back, and you definitely won't do it by feeling sorry for yourself!_ I pulled myself together and finished my chips, then paid the bar-lady (who must have been Rosmerta's mother as they looked remarkably similar) and left. On my way out I accidentally bumped into one of the other patrons – after a hurried apology, I exited the pub.

By now it was quite dark and, having completed my shopping, I started on my way back to Hogwarts. I walked slower this time as I wasn't in any particular rush, and the dark didn't bother me. I have never been one of the those girls who feels terrified at the prospect of walking alone in the dark – it's much the same as walking home in the light, just with limited visibility.

The night was beautiful and clear, and I could see almost every star in the sky. After I nearly walked into a bush whilst tilting my head back and staring upwards, I stopped to allow myself to continue in a less... dangerous... fashion. I had a funny feeling that there had been footsteps that stopped just as mine did, but shook it off as a flight of fantasy – after all, it was dark and the mind plays tricks on you in the dark. I continued my stargazing for a few minutes, marvelling at the clarity with which I could see the Great Bear, Andromeda, and Orion the Hunter. When my eyes fell on Sirius, the Dog Star, I no longer felt like stargazing, so averted my gaze from the heavens and set off. Once again, I could have sworn that footsteps started up behind me, just a tiny bit behind mine. Sighing I told myself not to be stupid and continued walking. However, just to be sure, I changed my pace.

There! That was definitely footsteps – I could no longer kid myself into thinking it wasn't. I cursed myself silently for ignoring my instincts. Carefully, I continued, hoping to pretend to my stalker that I had not noticed them following me, so as to gain the advantage of surprise. I drew my wand from its holster round my wrist, and silently erected a shield charm. I tried not to think about the horrible stories I had heard over the summer about women going missing on their way home from work, or in similar situations to mine.

It was lucky I had the shield charm up, for the next second a stunner flew out of the darkness behind me and hit my shield. I could not longer pretend ignorance. _Here's where the training comes in, Hermione. _I could hear Harry's voice in my head, _Keep calm, respond to disarm or stun, and use that brain of yours._ I immediately shot a stunner back at the place mine had come from, and then for good measure did so to the left and right too. I could not hear it hit anything so I erected another shield and ran towards the castle gates.

I knew I had not hit my opponent when I heard running footsteps following me and heavy breathing. I ran as fast as I could, barely drawing breath, but I could still hear him closing in on me. _Think, Hermione!_ I yelled inside my head. _Think, think, think!_ I was suddenly struck with an image of Winnie the Pooh sitting on his log beside a bonfire, tapping his head, repeating the same words. _Now is not the time, brain! _I gasped at myself – then it struck me. Bonfire. Light.

"Lumos Maxima!" I shouted, all thought of silent spells forgotten, as I spun and pointed my wand behind me. The road was filled with a supernova-like light, and my assailant was visible for the first time. He must have looked up just as I cast the charm, for he was cursing and rubbing his eyes, obviously blinded. He was recognisable as the patron I had bumped into on my way out of the Three Broomsticks, and had familiar blonde hair and a cane. _Lucius Malfoy_. I rolled my eyes. Like father, like son – obviously both seemed to find terrorising people fun. I shot a stunner at him for good measure and watched in satisfaction as he crumpled to the ground. I turned back towards Hogwarts and walked the last of the way to the gates using a small lumos spell – I wasn't in the mood to admire the dark anymore.

As I made my way up to the Gryffindor common room, and then up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, I was struck by an immense sense of gratitude towards A.A. Milne, whose books I had been enamoured with as a child. I would never have thought that they would come in useful in later life, during an attack on my person, but I was suddenly very glad that my parents had started me off on them.

Winnie the Pooh was my new best friend.

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**A/N: Again, major apologies for the delay in updating, hopefully you all aren't too cross with me... :)**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognise – that's all the lovely JK Rowling's! I do, however take credit for Fiona and some of the titles of spell books used... Many thanks to AA Milne's wonderful creation of Winnie the Pooh (and Piglet too!).**

**A/N: Thought I'd be nice and upload the next chapter too... :)**

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**Chapter 9**

_Previously: As I made my way up to the Gryffindor common room, and then up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, I was struck by an immense sense of gratitude towards A.A. Milne, whose books I had been enamoured with as a child. I would never have thought that they would come in useful in later life, during an attack on my person, but I was suddenly very glad that my parents had started me off on them._

_Winnie the Pooh was my new best friend._

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I spent that evening practicing my silent spells and tried, for the first time, to cast a wandless levitating charm. After half an hour of staring at my quill, willing it to rise, I had a splitting headache and my quill had not moved even a millimetre. I decided to call it a day.

The next day I woke to find that my headache had gone, and that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. I had planned to go for a walk in the grounds after breakfast, but the driving rain on the dormitory window changed my mind.

I dressed at a leisurely pace, struggled my hair into a relatively neat ponytail, then made my way down the stairs and out through the portrait hole. I passed through the corridors in a slight daze, thinking back to all the times I had walked this route with Harry and Ron. I missed them very much – even Ron, as irritating as he is sometimes, has a small place in my heart. I found myself wishing that I had never come here, that I could return home. I had to remind myself, for what felt like the hundredth time, that feeling unhappy would not accomplish anything, and that I should stay focused on finding a way back. I would find a way back, I would, I would...

Repeating my new mantra in my head, I entered the Great Hall. Finding the room deserted apart from a single table in the centre of the room, I took a place somewhere in the middle of the table and selected my morning nutrients – a bowl of porridge with liberal helpings of syrup, an apple, and a glass of milk. I was halfway through the porridge, when the doors to the Great Hall opened and Dumbledore entered, followed by Lily and Severus.

"Good morning, Mia!" Dumbledore greeted me cheerfully as he took a seat opposite mine. He peered over his spectacles at me and twinkled.

"I must thank you for the note I received yesterday evening – I understand that the fish and chips at the Three Broomsticks is especially good and that you couldn't bear to leave it." If it was possible, his eyes sparkled even more merrily as he continued, "Your kneazle was very helpful in explaining the merits of the fish." He went on to explain that 'Kneazan' was one of his spoken languages, and that he had learnt it around the same time as he learnt Mermish. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this news, and so smiled and nodded along.

In the meantime, Lily and Severus had seated themselves on either side of me and were helping themselves to food. Lily distracted Dumbledore from his rendition of 'Beowulf' (in Middle English, of course), by pointing out that the bacon and sausages were extremely good and that he should probably enjoy them. Severus shot me a look that clearly stated that he only put up with the headmaster because he felt obliged. I replied with one that stated 'I have no choice – he is a relative, after all'. He quirked an eyebrow, obviously finding the fact amusing. Turning to Lily, I asked her if she had met Fiona.

"Fiona?" Her brow wrinkled, as if trying to remember something she had forgotten.

"She works in Madame Malkin's, in Hogsmeade. About so high," I gestured with my hands, "red-haired, and very Irish. Great sense of humour." Lily smiled.

"Now you come to mention it, I do know her. She left Hogwarts last year – she was the Ravenclaw prefect and was always very nice to everyone. I heard she's dating a muggle now – apparently seriously... he's called Alasdair, works in a fishmongers in central London. Also Irish – well, he's got to be, what with a surname like Finnigan!"

My stomach gave an unexpected lurch. I had a funny feeling I had just met a younger version of Seamus' mother. Thinking back to first year, after the sorting, I recalled what he had said about his parents.

"_I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Man didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."_

Great. First Harry's parents, then Malfoy's dad, now Seamus' mother! This wasn't going to be as easy as I had first thought if I was going to keep running into people I knew. I sighed, and tuned back into Lily's chattering.

"...and then she says, 'no, it's _ehwaz_ - it's not _eiwaz_! You've done it all wrong!' And I turned round and showed her the dictionary where it was stated, clear as glass, that it was _ehwaz_ and I had been right. And then doesn't she go and say that I changed the book! Professor Saldoy himself had to tell her I was right! Blondes..." She trailed off, shaking her head. From what I could gather, the girl she had been talking about was called Amy-Lou, and was the sort of person who was convinced that everything they did was right. Ever since then, she had pitted herself against Lily – sort of like a bitchier version of Malfoy. I smiled and finished my porridge.

"So, Mia, what are your plans for today? Sev is going to help me with my potions – not that I really need that much help but there's a bit of Golpalott's Third Law that I just don't understand."

"I'll probably spend most of today in the library – I had wanted to go for a walk around the grounds, but looking at the weather," I gestured at the ceiling, across which a bolt of lightning had just flashed, "I don't think that's on the cards!" Lily nodded, wincing as a loud rumble of thunder echoed through the hall. She got up to leave with Severus, and I quickly followed suit, not wanting to be left alone with Dumbledore, who was humming some sort of Scottish Jig and salt and pepper dance across the table. I waved a goodbye to Dumbledore, who waved back, and once more became engrossed in his dancing condiments.

"I'll see you at lunch then?" Lily asked as we arrived at the staircase I was to take.

"Maybe – if I don't turn up, you may have to send someone to extricate me from the books..." Lily giggled.

"Don't worry – if Dumbledore is still acting crazy, I might come and join you!"

Severus echoed Lily's bid of farewell, and we went our separate ways.

I wandered up towards the library, planning in my head where I would start. _First off, look in the transport section – there might be some information on time turners which could relate. Then in _Hogwarts, A History_, to see if this sort of thing has happened before – and to see if I can relocate the room that must have sent me here. Then maybe if Madame Pince isn't there, I could have a look in the restricted section, and if she is, I could get a slip off Dumbledore... or offer to help Pince – she might take a liking to me and might have books squirreled away somewhere..._

I rounded a corner and promptly backtracked swiftly and silently, heart thudding. Sirius was walking along the corridor towards me, gazing moodily at the floor and was the last person I wanted to see. I was reminded of the first time I had seen him in this time as I quickly tucked myself behind a suit of armour and waited for him to pass by.

I waited. And waited.

And then felt an insane need to sneeze. Drawing my wand, I managed to cast a silent 'Silencio' on myself... an instant too late. The first part of my sneeze echoed around the hall, just as Sirius rounded the corner. He stopped and looked around, confused.

Shit.

Thinking quickly, I rapped myself on the head and waited for the tell-tale cracked egg-feel to run down my back, ensuring the Disillusionment charm had worked. I now just needed to stay still and silent until Sirius went.

I was willing him to move on, to _go away_, when he slowly made his way over to the suit of armour I was standing behind. I gulped.

_Please go away, please go away, please don't see me... Please don't itch _now_, nose – not helpful!_

I watched helplessly as Sirius peered behind my armoured guard, his face inches away from mine. In any other situation, it might have been romantic, but the only thing I was feeling at that instant was panic and an immense need to exhale. I would have to in 3... 2... 1...

Sirius moved away, obviously deciding there was nothing there. I let out a great, silenced, sigh of relief as he stepped away from the armour. Poking my head out of the alcove I was hiding in, I watched gleefully as he continued on his way down the corridor. I paused briefly to remove the silencing and Disillusionment charms then, stepping out from behind the armour, I started off again towards the library.

I did wonder, though, why so many students were at Hogwarts – after all it was summer, and Lily, Severus and now Sirius seemed to be staying at the castle. I was bemused as to why they would be doing so, but determined to get to the bottom of it when I could.

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**A/N: Slightly shorter chapter, but it felt right to stop here. Some of you are possibly getting tired of the slow pace? I will try and pick it up soon – promise! Pointers would be handy as I have never written a fanfic, or a fic of any kind before... :) Thanks!**

**Please review on your way out, even if it is a one-liner, or even just a 'like' or 'dislike', all feedback is gratefully received.**

**Onwards and upwards!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise, it's (mostly) all JKR's.**

**A/N: Hope y'all had a good Easter... filled with lots of chocolate and rest...I received my first galaxy egg this year, which was welcomed after no chocolate all through Lent. However my Lentern giving-up of chocolate was lengthened due to a stinking cold the day before Easter Sunday... I am over it now, and enjoyed the egg very much! :)**

**Hope you like the chapter as much as I did my egg... :P**

**Chapter 10**

_Previously: I did wonder, though, why so many students were at Hogwarts – after all it was summer, and Lily, Severus and now Sirius seemed to be staying at the castle. I was bemused as to why they would be doing so, but determined to get to the bottom of it when I could._

I spent the rest of the morning searching out books that might be useful, however I wasn't having any luck and by the time Lily came in to 'collect' me for a late lunch (she and Severus had got carried away in the potions lab – I didn't think I wanted to know any more than that) I was ready to give up and stay when I was for the rest of my life.

Sirius turned up halfway through lunch – I pointedly ignored him, leading to Lily asking me as we left the hall what he had done to get the silent treatment.

"He was extremely rude about people who like Potions, reading and studying, and was extremely prejudiced against the Slytherins – Severus in particular. So, I gave him a piece of my mind, and I haven't talked to him since."

"Go you!" She gave me a broad grin and patted my shoulder in a congratulatory sort of manner. "I've never dared to tell him that – I've only ever had a go at Potter, but Black is just as bad. When was this?"

"Yesterday, before I went into Hogsmeade." I was slightly surprised at the way she spat out her future surname – I had assumed that James and Lily went back a while, but obviously not. Maybe something was to happen this coming year to make them closer? At present I was unable to see how she ended up with James and not Severus – she and Snape seemed to be much closer than I had expected.

"You don't waste your time, do you? Believe me, I did the same in first year when he was picking on Sev and he hasn't really liked me since."

"You know, I really don't need you to fight my battles, Lily. You too, Mia." Severus spoke up for the first time since breakfast, looking uncomfortable. Lily turned to him and tucked her arm through his.

"Yes, but if he said something mean about me, you would step in and have a go at him, so I don't see why I shouldn't if he said something about you! Oh, bye Mia – see you later," she added as we went our separate ways again. I could hear her continue to put her point across to Severus, who sighed and agreed with her, if only to have an easy life. I grinned and shook my head. James was in for a handful!

This time, my walk to the library was incident-free and Sirius-free, and I arrived with a new determination to complete my aim. I hadn't checked _Hogwarts, a History_ yet, so off I went to find it.

After half an hour's searching, I finally found the book in the dustiest corner of the library. Interested, I turned to the page on which the return dates of the book were to be stamped. The most recent one was nearly fifteen years old. _Shame – it's such a good book, but people just don't appreciate History any more, not since Binns started teaching it..._ I wandered over to a desk and started flicking through, searching for any record of time travel of any sort.

Three quarters of an hour later, I was reading an interesting passage about the effect of the Goblin Rebellions on the School, but had found nothing relevant at all. I sighed and was about to give up when I flicked a couple of pages forwards and – there!

_The year 1829 was mostly uneventful, bar an incident in which a sixth-year student disappeared from school, returning three months later with a wild story about a room in Hogwarts that had sent him to the year 1750. No evidence of such a room has been found and the student's tale was dismissed as an overactive imagination._

I had found some sort of reference to a previous incident, although how useful it was to be was yet unknown. I flopped back in my chair. I had more unknowns than ever – I didn't know the student's story, what he did to get back, his name, or anything, and he probably wasn't even alive still. I did a quick calculation – if he was, he would be... nearly 170 years old. Maybe, just maybe, he was still alive? After all, Dumbledore was around the same age...

I jumped out of my seat and raced out of the library, ignoring Madame Pince's cries of "you haven't taken that book out!". I knew what I was going to do, at last.

I reached the stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office in record time and was glad that the staircase moved me upwards by its own steam as it gave me a chance to catch my breath and make myself presentable before I arrived at Dumbledore's office door.

I lifted my hand to the door to knock then, hearing angry voices from inside, my nosiness got the better of me, and I paused and leaned closer. _Might hear something interesting..._

"But Professor, I can't –"

"You will do as you are told, Mr Black! It is not up for discussion!" It was the angriest I had ever heard Dumbledore and I felt a little sorry for Sirius to be on the receiving end. His next words, however changed my mind.

"But I can't! You may be the headmaster, all high and mighty up here in your _office_ with your _trinkets_" he threw something across the room, "and your _bloody_ lemon drops," it sounded as if the bowl on Dumbledore's desk had been upturned, "but you are _not_ all-seeing and you most certainly cannot tell me what to do! I refuse to work with him and that is my final word!" By this point I had no need to lean closer to the door – he bellowed the last part and I heard him storming across the room, towards me.

Self-preservation got the better of me and I dived aside as –

The door didn't open.

I blinked in surprise.

"Open the door." I heard Sirius' voice, now surprisingly calm, from the other side of the door.

_Oh. _I moved away from the wall I had been pressing myself against, feeling rather foolish.

"No." Dumbledore's tone was firm and even.

"Open the bloody door, old man!" There was no trace of calmness now – I could see why the Ministry could have believed that he was a cold-blooded killer.

"Not until you calm down, and discuss this with me like an adult. After all, that is how you are requesting I treat you." I could not believe that the headmaster was able to stay so calm – he sounded as if he were discussing the weather, as opposed to being faced with a furious teenager.

I heard a roar of exasperation, heavy footsteps, a thump, and... silence.

_Either Sirius has murdered the headmaster, or Dumbledore has stunned Sirius... or both..._

I shook my head. Wasn't likely. Even still, I pressed my ear against the door, hoping to hear something – anything – to confirm that both parties were still alive and well.

Nothing.

_Hmm... Now what? Do I stay here? Do I go?_ I sat down on the landing by the door, feeling particularly useless.

What does one normally do in such a situation? As clever as I am (and I'm very modest too, of course! :P), I had no idea how to act.

I was just starting to get up to go and find... someone... when the door opened and Dumbledore's smiling face twinkled down at me.

"I believe you can come in now, Miss Jones." He proffered a hand to help me up, then waved me through his office door. I did my best not to look relieved when I saw Sirius sitting in an armchair by the fire, but secretly I was glad nothing had happened to him, or Dumbledore. However I feigned indifference as I took the seat at Dumbledore's desk, and watched as the headmaster seated himself opposite me. After a moment's pause, I said,

"I had hoped to talk with you, Professor." He smiled at me, eyes twinkling, and said nothing.

"Alone." I added, with a glance at Sirius, who was still staring into the fire. I was slightly bemused as to why he had not reacted to my entrance.

"There's no need to worry, Mia, Mr Black is currently unable to hear us. He is having – the muggle phrase sums it up brilliantly – a 'time out'." He twinkled over his glasses at me.

"Oh." I said.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, I wanted to... ask you, I suppose, about this." I placed _'Hogwarts, a History'_ on his desk, open to the relevant page. Dumbledore quickly scanned the page, his twinkling eyes replaced by a slight frown. After a time, during which I was certain he could have read the page six times through in detail, he leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, deep in thought.

_Come on! _ I thought impatiently, as he stayed silent for another long while.

Eventually he sat up again, and looked straight at me.

"Now you mention it, I do remember this incident. I was in my seventh year at the time, although I must admit," he sighed, "I would not have recalled it unless you had reminded me of it. It was a very long time ago, you know." He paused, as if waiting for me to say something.

"It's almost exactly the same as my own story! When I saw it I hoped... maybe you knew the person in question, and whether he is still alive? Could I meet him? Ask him how he got back to his own time? Maybe he could, I dunno, help me find the room again? What do you think?" Dumbledore sighed again.

"I do believe he is still alive, however I am not sure as to his location, nor do I remember his name." I must have slumped down in my chair and looked quite distraught, for he added,

"Now don't look quite so disheartened! I am sure if you search in the yearbook for Hogwarts graduates in the year 1830 you will find his name. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe Mr Black has cooled off quite enough, and I have most pressing matters to discuss with him. Pip pip!" He waved his hand at me, as if to swat off an annoying fly. Irritated, I got up to leave.

"Thank you very much for your help, Professor." I could not help but let a bit of sarcasm creep into my voice as I said this. I stalked out, robes billowing behind me in an impressive impersonation of Snape, before he could reply.

I made my way back to the library, thinking about the rather useless information Dumbledore had given me. Honestly – how was I supposed to recognise the student in question from a yearbook if I didn't even know what he looked like? I could be there all day looking for a needle I wouldn't recognise in a haystack made of hay indistinguishable from the needle! Sighing as deeply as Dumbledore had done previously, I re-entered the library, so preoccupied I did not notice Madame Pince's approach until it was too late.

"You, young lady, have some explaining to do! You _waltz _out of here with one of my precious books, and re-enter nearly an hour later as if it is completely normal behaviour! I cannot believe the attitude of young people these days! One would think..." I switched off as she continued ranting, arranging my features into an expression of contriteness, and praying she would get tired of yelling at me before long.

This day was not getting any better.

**A/N: Alright folks, there's your quota for now! I'm afraid that updates may be few and far between from now on – even rarer than they are at present – as I have my AS exams in two weeks time, and will be studying my socks off... :S**

**Hoping you enjoyed it,**

**Please R&R on your way out - it will cheer me up no bounds!**

**Onwards and upwards...**

**xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to JKR... I am simply a visitor who has been allowed to play in her sandpit... :)**

**A/N: Sooner than I had anticipated, but the writing bug bit and I didn't feel like revising Chemistry... :) As much as I love the subject, I am having a rather bad day and didn't want to make it any worse...**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Chapter 11**

_Previously: "You, young lady, have some explaining to do! You waltz out of here with one of my precious books, and re-enter nearly an hour later as if it is completely normal behaviour! I cannot believe the attitude of young people these days! One would think..." I switched off as she continued ranting, arranging my features into an expression of contriteness, and praying she would get tired of yelling at me before long._

_This day was not getting any better._

I managed to prevent Madame Pince's tirade from lengthening too much when I apologised profusely and offered to help her in the library. After a suspicious glare and a lengthy pause, I hastily backed up the offer with tales of how much I loved the library, how books were as precious to me as any children of mine would be, and that I would do my utmost to treat them with the care and respect they deserved. She conceded, glaring at me one more.

"You put that book back, mind, in exactly the place you found it!" After affirming that I would, she finally let me go and I made my way back to the corner I had occupied previously, to collect my bag and replace the book.

I had a vague idea as to the location of the yearbook I was looking for; there was a far corner dedicated to them. I made my way over, heart sinking when I saw the enormous volume of... volumes. Some dated back to the 1500s and, I noted, were not in chronological order at all. 1659's class was next to that of 1843's, which was in turn had 1738's stuffed, upside down, next to it. I sighed, and got to work.

I quickly devised a plan that would, I hoped, take to pain out of searching for the right book. Looking back on my experiences as I write this, I must admit I kick myself for not having thought of a summoning charm – it would have saved me a lot of hassle – but I have to admit that living in the muggle world tends to make you forget about magic in what could be an ordinary, non-magical situation. So I spent the rest of the day sorting the books into sections – 1500 to 1550, then 1550 to 1600 and so on.

I was momentarily cheered when I found what I thought was 1830's yearbook, however I placed it on my antepenultimate pile with a sigh when I noticed it was in fact 1880's.

_This is getting boring... I wonder what's for supper? _My stomach rumbled loudly, and I sighed again. I seemed to be doing a lot of sighing that day, but even I had to admit that sometimes the library wasn't as fun as I sometimes made it out to be.

After another five minutes, my stomach growled at me again, and I decided to call it a day. Stacking the volumes I had sorted onto the shelves I had removed them from, I took a step back and regarded my handiwork. I was not even halfway yet, but the books seemed... happier.

_They obviously don't get much looking at, stuck in such a lonely corner of the library, _I mused as I collected my bag. I exited the library, then glanced at my watch.

Damn.

No wonder my stomach had been protesting so much – it was nearly 8:30pm and dinner had been over for a long time. _Ah well, _I thought to myself. _I'll just go the kitchens, and ask the house-elves for some food._ As much as I hated their enslavement, I hated being hungry even more.

On arrival at the painting of the fruit bowl that was the entrance to the kitchens, I tickled the pear, and turned the door knob. As I entered the large, brightly-lit room, I was struck with the general busyness of the place. Even still, as soon as I put a foot through the door, and small, possible female (it was so hard to tell!) house elf zoomed up to me as if wearing roller skates.

"How can Spinky be serving you today, Miss?" The little elf looked up at me with wide, green eyes, and a large, friendly smile.

"Um... well, I missed dinner – I was hoping you would have something left over that I could – "

Even before I had finished speaking, a great silver platter with matching cover was whizzing across the room towards me, then was deposited on the table to my left. The four elves who had been carrying it bowed, then scampered off to continue whatever tasks they had been doing before I entered. Spinky bowed and gestured to the platter.

"Spinky hopes Miss will enjoy the meal – is chicken and bacon pie that Spinky made herself, she did." She seemed to grow almost an inch as she said this, looking extremely proud with herself. I smiled.

"I'm sure I will do – thankyou very much! I have always liked the chicken and bacon pie here." As soon as I said this, I could have kicked myself – if any other phrase could have told anyone that I was from a different time, that one would! But Spinky did not seem perturbed at all.

"Spinky knows Miss has been here before, even if she has never seen her in this era before," she squeaked confidentially. "Spinky also knows that Miss is not wanting anyone to know this." She patted my hand comfortingly. "Spinky promises not to tell."

"Thankyou – I'm very grateful to you. It's very difficult, you know?" I continued as I sat down and removed the lid of the tureen. For some reason I felt as if I could confide in this small creature and not have all my secrets spilled. "I have two very good friends, where I come from, and I miss them very much. It's hard having the ability to change the outcome of something awful, when you know you mustn't... And of course," I mumbled through a very hot mouthful of chicken pie, "I still have to work out how to get back."

Spinky squeaked a warning before I said anything else, and I stopped.

"Fancy seeing you here, Mia." It was Sirius. He must have just come in – although why he would be in the kitchens at such a time, I hadn't a clue. He sat down opposite me, and smiled.

Spinky tugged on my sleeve and whispered a goodbye as a tureen arrived in front of Sirius too.

"Miss musn't worry – Sir only heard you saying you didn't know how to get back. Goodbye, Miss." She hurried off towards the oven and I lost sight of her behind a line of elves carrying barrels of something towards a cupboard.

There was a strained silence, and I busied myself with my pie, not looking at Sirius. He was obviously doing the same thing, for when I glanced up to see what he was doing, he seemed to have had the same idea, and our eyes met across the table. I looked away quickly and found, to my dismay, that I was blushing.

_Stop it , Hermione! Remember – he's Harry's godfather, and you don't want to become emotionally attached to anyone here, so it won't be hard to go back._

Sirius almost seemed to read my thoughts.

"Where do you need to get back to?" I choked on my pie. Coughing, I said the first thing that came into my head.

"I was – cough – excuse me; told where to find the kitchens by Professor Dumbledore, as I was likely to miss supper. He didn't tell me how to get back to Gryffindor tower, though, so I'm a bit stuck. I should be able to manage, though." I added tersely: I still had not forgiven him for our argument of two days previous. I couldn't help but notice that at the mention of 'Dumbledore', Sirius' features seemed to stretch, and his face contorted into a grimace of discontent. I wondered what he and Dumbledore had been at loggerheads over – whatever it was, it had the power to turn Sirius into an almost perfect replica of a mountain troll on a bad day – it was not a pleasant sight. The phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' came into my head, but I brushed it aside, telling myself that I was human, not feline, and therefore it did not apply to me.

"If you want... I can show you the way back?" Sirius offered tentatively. I had a feeling this was the closest thing I would get to an apology, and sighed inwardly. I speared a potato to give me time to think.

If I said yes, he would think everything was all OK, and that I had forgiven him. If I said no, I was likely to be considered in the wrong and would have to spend an uncomfortable amount of time wandering the halls to keep up the act. So I had to compromise in some way.

"Fine. Thankyou." I said, shortly. He grinned and looked more cheerful. "However," I added, narrowing my eyes at him, "I have not yet forgiven you. You will have to do a bit more than offer to show me somewhere for me to forgive you." He rolled his eyes resignedly, and we ate the rest of the meal in a comfortable silence.

I had barely set my fork down on my plate before it was whizzed off by a speeding house-elf. Looking up, I saw that Sirius had finished at around the same time, and had merited the same treatment. We managed to make our way out of the kitchens without much ado, although Spinky did seem to decide that we needed an armful of pork pies to ensure we lasted the night (not that I am complaining – they are delicious little bundles of joy, but I didn't think I could manage anything else after the pie). Sirius, on the other hand, had no qualms about starting them as soon as we closed the portrait behind us. In a rather muffled voice, he explained that the Hufflepuffs' dormitories were just down the corridor. After he just missed spraying pastry over my robes, I took the remaining pies from him and stowed them in my bag – at his disappointed expression, I explained that it was not my aim in life to become a bird-table.

We arrived at Gryffindor tower about ten minutes later. I handed Sirius back the pies (I kept a couple for myself) and, as I did so, our hands accidentally brushed for the most fleeting of seconds. A shiver went up my spine, and I felt as if I had just gone down a dip on a rollercoaster ride. Sirius seemed unaffected.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked softly. Maybe he wasn't as unaffected as I thought he had been.

"Possibly," I responded, in a voice as high-pitched as Spinky's. "I'll be at breakfast, and possibly lunch," I added, clearing my throat to try to sound a little more normal. Sirius shifted on his feet awkwardly.

"See you then, then." He said, finally, and gave the password to the Fat Lady, who swung open. I waved, and entered the Tower. I glanced back over my shoulder in the second before the portrait swung shut, to see him staring after me, a slight smile fixed on his face.

I got ready for bed in a dream-like sort of state. It wasn't right that someone should have such an effect on me – especially someone I knew as a forty-year old ex-convict – but I felt as if I was floating. _So... this is what is meant by 'Cloud Nine'..._ I mused dreamily as I got into bed.

I lay awake for a little, thinking. The rational side of my brain – which had been out of order for the last half an hour – had come back with a vengeance and I was now having an internal argument. You won't believe that it is actually possible to argue with yourself until you do it but – trust me! – it actually happens and is a very odd experience.

_Those eyes... So grey, and... and – _ I thought dreamily.

_Stop it, Mia! You have to pull yourself together and think rationally!_ The voice insisted.

_But his hands – they were so soft, and warm..._ I protested.

_Listen to me – I'll say this slowly. You – are – NOT – going – to – develop – feelings – for – Sirius – Black. You – are – going – to – find – a – way – back – home._

_Sirius Black..._ Those were the only words I had actually paid attention to, and the voice let out an exclamation of frustration.

_Pull yourself together, woman!_ When it was obvious I was too far gone, the voice stated with exhasperation, _Fine. I will leave you alone for now – go to sleep – and I hope that in the morning you will be relatively normal once more._

With that I was left to myself, and fell asleep dreaming of a pair of grey, dreamy eyes.

**A/N:**** There you go – hope all you Sirius-Hermione shippers enjoyed the slight progress this chapter holds... It will speed up soon!**

**Please R&R on your way out – I hope to get the review count up to 50 by the next chapter – so if you are feeling generous, then please tell me what you think, even if it is only one line or even just one word... :)**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: All belongs to JKR, except Spinky, and pork pies which belong to Melton Mowbray... :)**

**A/N: I am sooooo sorry I haven't updated for so long! I have had an extremely hectic summer, and have only just managed to get my feet back under the desk and start writing!**

**I hope you have all had a great summer, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I will try and update a little more frequently – I will hopefully get another one out next week...**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**A/N #2: (4 June 2011) I've reposted this chapter as I found a continuity error that slipped by when I posted it originally - I said Hermione was going into 7th year instead of 6th year but that is all now corrected! If you've read the chapter already that is the only thing I've changed so DW you won't need to read it again! CB-13 xxx**

**Chapter 12**

_Previously: _Sirius Black..._ Those were the only words I had actually paid attention to, and the voice let out an exclamation of frustration._

Pull yourself together, woman_! When it was obvious I was too far gone, the voice stated with exasperation, _Fine. I will leave you alone for now – go to sleep – and I hope that in the morning you will be relatively normal once more.

_With that I was left to myself, and fell asleep dreaming of a pair of grey, dreamy eyes._

The next day went by extremely quickly. I spent most of the morning on a high from the previous night, and found myself grinning crazily every couple of minutes. I had not found 1830's yearbook yet, but had sorted through nearly all of the tomes. _Sod's Law, _I thought to myself, _that the book I was looking for _had _to be one of the last ones I sorted through._

At least Madame Pince was relatively happy. She had discovered what I was doing just before lunch and expressed her approval in her own special way (_"Damage any of those books, Miss Jones, and you'll wish you had never been born! But do continue sorting, if you must."_)

The day afterwards, I hit the jackpot. The third to last book I picked up (_'Sod's Law!' _I thought to myself) was labelled _'Leavers, summer of 1830'_ – I quickly stifled the urge to whoop and allowed myself a large smile and a small jig instead. I set the book carefully on the large table next to me and was about to sit down to read it when I realised that I should finish the bookshelves – I only had another couple of books to put in their place, and it would make it easier to leave quickly once I had found the information I was looking for. _Neat freak, _I chided myself. _You've finally found the book you've been looking for but, instead of reading it, you finish tidying up! Honestly!_ I ignored myself and tidied – when I had finally finished, I sat down and opened the front cover with trembling fingers. Now I had the book, and was able to find the information I was looking for, for some reason I felt... odd. As if I shouldn't be doing it.

_Stop being ridiculous,_ I told myself angrily, and resolutely turned a couple of pages to the first page of students.

'_Abercrombie, Patrick'_, I read. This was followed by _'Anstey, Caroline'_, then _'Armitage, Gregory'_. Underneath each name was a brief summary of the subjects they had studied, the grades they had received, and a short paragraph describing the student in question. _'Abercrombie, Patrick' _had been described:

'_Irritating, self-obsessed and vain as this boy started out in his Seventh year, the addition to his life of one Jennifer Clearwater soon turned Patrick into a charmingly sincere model student. I have no doubt that he will go on to do great things, although he will, do doubt, continue to be a fanatical Quiddich follower.'_

The description was anonymous – for good reason, I chortled to myself, as I turned the page. I doubted that Mr Abercrombie would have been happy with the description of himself that was to be preserved for a good few hundred years.

Flipping through the next couple of pages, I quickly realised that the students were listed in alphabetical order. A quick page count and in-head calculation told me that around 150 students had graduated that year. With a sigh, I realised the search wasn't over just yet.

I spent the next fifteen minutes using a charm I had found in _'Moste Usefule Spelles'_ that copied the contents of a page in a book onto a clean sheet of parchment. I had been interested to read that it had originally been designed as a household spell (pages in potions books could be replaced once they had become so tainted with potions ingredients that the method was illegible) but it had eventually found its way into the printing business – now for every book made, this particular charm was used at some point in the production process.

By the time I was finished, I had a pile of parchment that was, in effect, a new copy of the yearbook. I could now make notes and scribble on the pages to my heart's content, without ruining the book. I stood and carefully placed it back on the shelf then, stretching, I gathered up my notes and made my way out of the library to my room.

I was thankful – more than ever – that sixth and seventh year students were given their own rooms, as it meant I could stay up as late as I liked, and would not disturb anyone. After an incident at the Burrow, in which Ron got his hands on my diary (there's a reason its private!) and read it aloud to the other inhabitants, the first thing I did was ward my room. After, of course, I had borrowed some of Fred and George's more... interesting... pranks and let them loose on the idiot.

Smiling, as I remembered the revenge I had had on Ron, I spread my notes across my desk and sorted them: to start off with I singled out all the male students – I was left with seventy-two students.

_One of these guys can help me get home_, I thought wistfully. I sorted my seventy-two students into alphabetical order and started to read.

Two hours later, I had read all seventy-two descriptions and was no closer to finding my helper. Frustrated, I leaned back in my seat and stared up at the ceiling. Why would none of the descriptions have mentioned the time-traveller? Surely, travelling in time was such an odd thing to happen to someone, that it would have at least been mentioned in the yearbook! But no – the oddest thing included was a description of the time a student accidentally banished the giant squid into the middle of the Great Hall at supper-time. While this conjured an extremely amusing image, it was not what I had been searching for.

Maybe I had missed a page in the year book and had accidentally not copied it? I was about to leave for the library, to study the book itself, when my stomach growled at me, extremely loudly. Sighing, I decided to eat first. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was quarter past three – way too late for food to still be served in the Great Hall. I sighed and prepared myself for the long walk to the kitchens, then remembered that house elves come when you call.

Although I am not one for using slaves, on this instance the thought of walking down seven long flights of stairs and then back up them, really didn't appeal. _Lazy, _the voice in my head chided me, but I ignored it and called for Spinky, who popped into the room a couple of seconds later.

"Yes, Miss? How can Spinky help?" She had flour on her nose.

"What are you making at the moment, Spinky? You have flour on your nose." She smiled, and rubbed it off.

"Spinky is making salmon in pastry, for the meal this evening, miss. Spinky is sorry she cannot offer it to Miss now, but if Miss comes to the Great Hall this evening she can eat it!"

"Don't worry, I'll be there! I love salmon," I smiled at her. "In the meantime, do you think you could get me a chicken sandwich and a glass of water? I missed lunch."

Spinky smiled and squeaked with delight at the thought of helping me. "Spinky will return as soon as she can!" She popped away.

I only had to wait a few seconds when she reappeared, complete with a tray of sandwiches, a jug of water and a glass. She placed them carefully on my desk, then stood to attention.

"Is there anything else Spinky can be doing for Miss?" I smiled at her.

"No, thank you – that was it. I look forward to the salmon later!" She grinned and disappeared with a _crack_.

After lunch, I re-traced my steps up to the library. I pulled the book from the shelf, settled myself at a table, and was about to open it when, again, I got the odd compulsion to close the book and put it back on the shelf.

_Compulsion._ My mind whirred furiously as I sat, staring blankly at the table. That would explain a lot – the uneasy feeling that came over me every time I opened the book... it must have a compulsion charm on it to deter people from reading it! But why?

I confirmed my suspicions by casting a Revealing charm on the book, which showed me that, indeed, a compulsion charm had been cast on the book. By combining the Revealing charm with the spell, _Tempus!_ I could find out when the compulsion charm had been cast.

My blood ran cold as I realised that it was only two days old. It had been cast the same day Dumbledore told me about the yearbook.

Who could have cast it? No-one could enter Hogwarts without Dumbledore's knowledge, so it had to be someone who was in school. Or, and I shivered at the thought, Dumbledore had known someone had entered and cast the spell and hadn't done anything about it.

I removed the spell from the book, and flicked through it. Almost immediately, I noticed that a page was missing. I peered at the spine, holding it close to my nose - if I hadn't removed the spell, I wouldn't have wanted to get so close to the book and so would not have found out. There was definitely a page missing – the page numbers went from 53 to 56, and there was a ragged edge in the centre. I put the book down, thinking hard.

Someone was trying to prevent me finding the time-traveller. I didn't know who they were, as yet, but I had a sneaky suspicion that that same someone was trying to keep me in the past.

**A/N: hope you liked it, folks! And again, so sorry for the long delay between updates...**

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed – I appreciate your comments very much, so please continue sending them in!**

**Champagnebubbles13**

**xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything... :)**

**A/N: Sorry I did try to get one out last week but a whole load of stuff happened... at least it's this side of Christmas :P**

**Well, here you go!**

**By the way, sorry for the cliffie at the end of the last chapter... :P**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Chapter 13**

_**Previously:**__ I removed the spell from the book, and flicked through it. Almost immediately, I noticed that a page was missing. I peered at the spine, holding it close to my nose - if I hadn't removed the spell, I wouldn't have wanted to get so close to the book and so would not have found out. There was definitely a page missing – the page numbers went from 53 to 56, and there was a ragged edge in the centre. I put the book down, thinking hard._

_Someone was trying to prevent me finding the time-traveller. I didn't know who they were, as yet, but I had a sneaky suspicion that that same someone was trying to keep me in the past._

I sat there, thinking hard. I was missing the page I needed and someone was trying to keep information from me. Maybe a Repairing charm would restore the missing page?

"_Reparo!"_ No page appeared. I sighed – of course it wasn't going to be that simple!

The only other thing I could do was to get a new copy of the year book. This would be difficult, especially with someone trying to stop me from finding out. I decided to leave it for the day and return to my room, to think.

I went to supper that evening to find Lily and Severus sitting together with an extremely grumpy-looking Sirius next to them. He brightened up at my appearance, and indicated that I should sit in the seat next to him, between himself and Severus. As I sat down, blushing, I could have sworn I heard a derisive snort from Severus as Sirius held out my chair for me.

"So, I heard it was salmon tonight," I said loudly, glaring at Sev, who smirked. Lily, who didn't seem to have noticed, answered.

"Yes, that's right – how did you know?"

"I've made friends with one of the house elves – she's called Spinky and she does all the cooking for us at the moment. I assume that, once school starts again, she will be joined by some more elves – the poor thing couldn't possibly cook for a school of seven hundred plus, three times a day, on her own!"

Lily laughed. "I expect she could if she put her mind to it! From what I've seen of house-elves so far, they are certainly determined! I remember, in first year..." She then went off on a long, reminiscing tangent about an incident with a house-elf and one of her close friends. When the meal arrived, I tuned out and started eating. I was very aware of Sirius next to me, to the point where I could sense almost every movement he made. Shaking my heads to try and clear several thoughts that had surfaced, unbidden, I remembered a question I had wanted to ask all three of my new friends.

"Hey, guys – not meaning to sound funny or anything, but why are you all here?"

"What do you mean, Mia?" Lily turned to me, confusion evident on her face. I elaborated.

"I mean, it's the summer holidays! Surely you should be at home with your family or something? I mean, my parents are... erm... dead... so I'm here, but from what I've gathered so far, all three of you have family." Lily's face dropped. She sighed.

"I knew you'd ask that at some point – you're bright enough to notice..." she sighed again, then continued, prodding her salmon with her fork and avoiding my gaze.

"I got kicked out by my parents. My sister..." Her eyes filled with tears, and she brushed them away angrily, putting down her fork and turning to face me.

"Tuney has hated me since I got my Hogwarts letter. She has managed to poison my parents against me, who gave me an ultimatum – give up magic, or leave. I left."

"Oh Lily! I'm so sorry – if I'd known, I wouldn't have asked." I leant across Sev to give Lily a sympathetic hug. For once, he didn't comment.

"Don't worry about it – I'm getting used to the fact that I am now on my own." I pulled away and looked at her askance.

"Of course you're not on your own! You've got us – me, and Sev, and Sirius" my stomach flopped as I said his name but I ignored it and continued. "And besides, who needs people who give ultimatums... apart from teachers, of course."

"And who needs them?" Sirius said, laughing. I glared at him, then shook my head and returned to my meal. Sirius turned to me.

"I actually left home," he said conversationally. "My parents are high-up in the Voldemort-supporting side of things and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I walked out." He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and continued. "I'm only staying until next week – I'm going to James' house 'cause his parents said last time I visited that I was welcome whenever I wanted, but they're all on holiday this week and last. So I'm going next week instead. Dumbledore let me stay here in the meantime." I made a sympathetic sound and stared at my broccoli slightly sadly.

Leaving? How could he leave? I'd only just arrived! I ate a piece of broccoli and grimaced. Maybe it was for the best? I really shouldn't start getting attached to people in the past when I didn't know when I was going to leave... I tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Sev explaining himself.

"My mother passed away at the beginning of the holidays and there was no way I was going home to my dad. So I'm here." He gave me a look that almost dared me to ask more. I gulped and smiled at him weakly.

"Sooo... we're really all outcasts, aren't we?" Sirius said cheerfully, not noticing the look on Sev's face. All of a sudden I just needed to get out of there – I stood up, letting my cutlery fall with a clatter to my plate, and pushed my chair out.

"Sorry – I just remembered something I need to look up in the library." I invented wildly, and left them all looking slightly confused.

I didn't go the library, though. I let my feet carry me, on auto-pilot, through the familiar halls and corridors. I wasn't surprised to find myself in the owlery – it had always been the place I went to when I needed a little solitude. This time was no different – Sirius' comment, while not ill-intentioned, had struck a little too close to home. I had tried to forget why I had been staying with the Weasleys in my own time, but the conversation I had just been part of had brought it all back with a vengeance. Closing my eyes and sinking to a relatively clean patch of ground, I allowed myself to remember for the first time in two months.

_The Hogwarts Express billowed out clouds of white smoke as it came to a stop at platform 9 and ¾. I smiled to myself – a whole summer, all to myself, the only company being Crookshanks and my books! I stood up, and followed Harry and Ron out of our compartment, levitating my trunk behind me – the rule of 'no magic' didn't apply until we left the train. I got to the door, set my trunk down, and moved to pick it up._

_A familiar pain shot through my chest as I lifted it and I was forcefully reminded of the injury I had received at the Department of Mysteries only a couple of weeks previously. Madame Pomphrey had told me to take it easy for a month or so, and I was still taking restorative potions._

_I managed to put the trunk on a trolley and sat down shakily on top of it, to catch my breath and give the pain a chance to recede. Thankfully neither Harry nor Ron had noticed my predicament and continued to talk quietly about their upcoming summers._

_I spotted my parents waiting for me by the entrance to the train station as we passed through the barrier, said goodbye to Harry and Ron in my usual fashion (a very large hug), and went to join Mum and Dad._

_They were the same, but different somehow. My mum still greeted me with the usual "Hi honey – haven't you grown?", and Dad did the customary hair-ruffle and grin, and we all traipsed off to the car in the same manner. Still, something niggled at me in the back of my head, and I wasn't sure what._

_The car journey was different, too – last year my mum had regaled me with the funny stories from her dental practice, and Dad had been extremely excited about the hole-in-one he had managed on the golf course the weekend before. This time, we sat in silence with the radio playing classical music – my Mum's excuse was that we would talk about everything at the dinner table that evening._

_Later, when we were eating, all was explained. A quick scan on the room showed a pile of Daily Prophets stacked behind the fruit bowl on an inconspicuous table by the television. My stomach dropped. I had never told them of the war, or of my part in it, and my stories of school had been censored of danger – I didn't want them to worry. If they had been reading the Daily Prophet, they would know everything. I gulped and put my fork down. My dad took this as a good opportunity to speak._

"_Hermione, I was thinking – how about you take your A-levels this year? I'm sure you could pass them no bother, then go to University." I gave him an incredulous look._

"_Why would you suggest that? You've always been supportive of me continuing at Hogwarts until I've taken my NEWTs, why the sudden change of heart?" But I already knew why, and what was coming._

_What followed was, in short, the most horrible row I have ever had with my parents. They knew about the war, the prejudice against muggle-borns, and my position in the middle of it all. They even knew about my injury. All this added together to give them a good reason to pull me out of Hogwarts, and they wouldn't compromise at all._

_I thought fast. I had no option but to agree with them and I did so half-heartedly. I then excused myself to my bedroom, leaving my half-eaten meal on the table._

_That night I waited until my parents had gone to bed, then proceeded to pack all my things into a bottomless bag Harry had given me for Christmas. I left an apologetic note on the kitchen table on my way out and, my heart breaking, I left my set of house keys with it. I closed the back door behind me and made my way to the main road._

_I summoned the Knight Bus and paid the driver. I looked back at my house, a solitary tear dripping down my face._

Returning to the present – well, sort of present – I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall, fighting back tears. I had gone to the Burrow, pretending that I wanted to spend the summer with my friends, and that my parents were perfectly happy with the set-up. No-one had noticed, and I buried the memories so deeply that I almost forgot about them myself. This evening had brought it all rushing back, with a vengeance.

**A/N: 2 reviews? 2 REVIEWS? Come on guys, you can do better than that! I know I haven't been updating as regularly as perhaps I should, but it is really demoralising for an author to not have any feedback at all – even if it is a simple 'I like it' or 'I don't like it', at least I know you guys actually think something about it... Thank you in advance :-)**

**Rant over now, I promise :P**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**CB-13**

**xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it, unfortunately. See A/N at end of chapter, please!**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Chapter 14**

_**Previously**_**:**___Returning to the present – well, sort of present – I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall, fighting back tears. I had gone to the Burrow, pretending that I wanted to spend the summer with my friends, and that my parents were perfectly happy with the set-up. No-one had noticed, and I buried the memories so deeply that I almost forgot about them myself. This evening had brought it all rushing back, with a vengeance._

Eventually I gave in and allowed myself to cry a little - I decided the situation was dire enough for a few tears. I was stuck 20 years in the past - admittedly with good new friends - but almost all of them would be dead by the time I returned to my own time - if, indeed, I would be able to. I missed Harry, and Ron, even the ever-present toast at the Burrow, but most of all, I missed my parents.

My mum had always been there for me - as a child, she was the one who held me when I was upset, she was the one who bandaged my knee when the school bully pushed me over in the playground, she was the one to whom I would go with all my troubles and worries... She had been a constant, reassuring presence in my life and I missed her terribly.

The thing I missed most about my dad was his sense of humour. He was always ready with a joke, and little anecdote, a saying he had picked up somewhere. He was the one I went to for help with my homework which, admittedly, wasn't very often, but I sometimes pretended I needed help just so we could get into a discussion about advanced Maths or Science.

When I got my letter from Hogwarts, they were so excited and happy for me - I had so many options and future possibilities that they never had - but they were sad that it would involve me boarding. I had never been away from home, or from my parents, for longer than a couple of nights.

I was dreadfully homesick for the first month or so of first year, especially as I had no friends and everyone thought I was a 'stuck up know-it-all'... but I was just trying to fit in. Then along came Harry and Ron, and I was happier than I ever had been. My letters home grew shorter and shorter up to the point where I only wrote once a month. I gradually grew apart from my parents - I couldn't tell them about most of my exploits in the Wizarding world or they would make me leave Hogwarts, for my own safety. Then came their reaction when they found out about the war - I suppose I could have predicted it if I had wanted to, but I successfully deluded myself into thinking that everything was fine, when it was not.

The fact that they had given me an ultimatum - leave the Wizarding world or else - had really upset me. I was a witch, and part of the Wizarding world now, but I was still part of the Muggle world. How could someone ask me to choose between the two? It was like trying to decided who you loved more - your mum or your dad. It just wasn't something you could choose between. But they had forced me to make that decision and I have to admit I resented them for it, as much as I missed them.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by a quiet, slightly worried, "Are you alright?". I jumped and turned in the direction of the voice, wiping at my eyes as I did so. I was looking at a boy the same age as me, with hazel eyes that were wide with concern. He had sandy brown hair that seemed to do whatever it pleased, and he looked tired. I felt sure that I had seen him somewhere before.

I then realised that I had been sitting there staring at him, and he was probably waiting for a reply. "I'm OK." He raised an eyebrow. "Well, not really OK, as such," I amended, "but I will be. I'm Mia Jones, by the way." I added.

He sat down beside me and held out a hand, which I shook. "Remus Lupin." So this was why I recognised him - in fact, now I came to think of it, I couldn't believe I hadn't known who he was straight away. He had fewer scars on his face, true, and his face wasn't as lined as it would be, but he was still quite obviously the same man I knew twenty years in the future.

"I've never seen you around here before - are you new?" he asked, shifting a little on the floor so as to avoid an owl that had decided to offload its droppings right next to him. In the process he unconciously drew closer to me, and I had to talk sternly to myself to prevent myself becoming one of those giggly girls you get irritated with.

"Yes, I'm new this term, in Gryffindor - my mother passed away so I came here - there was no-one else who would take me in the family." His eyes widened and I could tell that he had assumed that I had been upset about my mum. _Partly right, Mr Lupin_, I thought to myself.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you must be going through. If you ever need to talk to anyone, I'm staying here over the summer." I gave him a watery smile and thanked him.

"I appreciate it, you know."

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, listening to the owls flitting about above us and occasionally ducking to avoid a swoop that was slightly too low.

I don't know how long we sat there, just enjoying each other's company, but after a while the summer sun disappeared underneath the windowsill and I shivered - it was cold without the sun's warmth. Remus noticed my movement and spoke.

"Do you want to go back to the common room? It's a bit cold now the sun's gone." I nodded in agreement and he stood, then offered me a hand up. It was only then that I realised how stiff I was from sitting in the same position for goodness knows how long - I took his hand but it still took a lot of effort to stand. I stretched, cat-like, and we wandered along the corridors towards the common room, now chatting quietly about school, Hogsmeade, books, and pets. He seemed impressed that Mika had chosen me as an owner - Kneazles are notoriously picky about who they will allow to 'keep' them, he explained, and it's normally a good judge of character if someone has a Kneazle. I blushed and thanked him for the compliment.

Before I knew it, we were at the common room portrait.

"Flabbergasted." Remus stated, and the Fat Lady swung open to admit us.

Lily and Sirius were sitting on one of the squidgy couches near the fire. When she saw me, Lily bounced up, ran over, and threw her arms around my neck in a tight hug reminiscent of Mrs Weasley.

"I'm so sorry - I forgot that 'parents' isn't such a good topic at the moment, I've been really worried," she continued, pulling away and peering into my face, her green eyes wide. "I didn't know where you'd gone - I checked the Library but you weren't there, and then..." Her bottom lip trembled a little and I could see that she was upset. I sat her back down on the couch.

"No, no Lily - you shouldn't be sorry! I'm OK, I had a little bit of a wobble, but I met Remus here," I gestured in his general direction, "and he helped cheer me up. Do you know him?" I turned to where Remus had been, only to find him engaged in a heated but whispered discussion with Sirius, who looked furious. I turned back to Lily, confused.

"What's up with them? Are they not friends or something?" Lily shook her head, peering at them curiously.

"No, they're part of the same group - the Marauders. They're _supposed_ to be good friends, but it doesn't look like it at the moment, does it?" I nodded in agreement. We leant a little closer, trying to hear what they were saying, but Sirius looked up by chance and noticed us. He gave us a slightly forced grin and stood.

"Well, if it isn't Mia!" He said, strolling over, throwing himself on the couch and throwing an arm around my shoulder. "I was worried you'd fallen into the lake or something!" I gave a sheepish grin.

"I was OK, I just needed a bit of time alone - besides, Remus found me and was very helpful in getting me back here. I wasn't sure where I'd ended up!" For some reason my words caused a scowl to flash across Sirius' face for a second before he schooled his features into one of cheerfulness, but not before he had removed his arm from my shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Remus smile slightly, as if he had won a bet of some sort, then he spoke as he settled himself into a squishy armchair opposite us.

"I found her in the Owlery - I went up to send a letter to my mum to let her know I got here safely - she worries, you know. It was pure chance that Mia was there at the same time!" He grinned at me - it was an open smile, full of happiness, and I grinned back. Lily coughed slightly, smirking.

"Well, when you two love birds have stopped grinning at each other, like the cats that got the cream, I was about to go to bed and I would suggest you do the same - separately." Remus went bright red and I felt my face flush hot too.

"I'm not - we're not - really, Lily! I only met him today! What sort of person do you think I am?" I exclaimed, as he sputtered something similar. She giggled, pulled me to my feet and proceeded to drag me up the stairs to the dorms. I looked back, just in time to see Sirius looking crestfallen and cross, and Remus with a tentative smile on his face. "Goodnight, boys!" I yelled as Lily pushed me into her room and slammed the door. She turned to me, a slightly predatory expression on her face. "Spill."

Never has one word been so terrifying, I thought to myself, as I steeled myself for a long night ahead.

**A/N: I am so sorry that I have left so long between the last chapter and this one - I wouldn't blame you if you had left my story and gone to find something else more... regular... to read! I know I would if I were you!**

**Only excuse I can give is than my A2 exams start next week - really important ones that basically control which Uni I get into - so I have been putting my all into studying in the past few months. As such, updates will be few and far between until July, when they finish and I am free!**

**I have also come down with a large and rather severe case of writer's block, helped along by an extreme shortage of reviews for the last chapter. I have become rather demoralised with the whole thing and have been considering dropping the story. If you guys think I shouldn't, please review and let me know - even if it just a one or two word statement!**

**I probably don't deserve it after leaving you hanging for so long, but there is no harm in asking, is there?**

**Love and fairy dust, CB-13 xxxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: my name is not JK Rowling, and I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter, as much as I would like to!**

**A/N: Thankyou to all my readers for being so patient with me! My exams will be over on the 27th June so I should find more time to update after then.**

**Thanks also go to:**

**mggsmonkey**

**LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL**

**xAlex-Drakex**

**and Monnbeam**

**who all reviewed to tell me to keep going. Many thanks and fairy dust!**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Chapter 15**

_**Previously:**_ _"I'm not - we're not - really, Lily! I only met him today! What sort of person do you think I am?" I exclaimed, as he sputtered something similar. She giggled, pulled me to my feet and proceeded to drag me up the stairs to the dorms. I looked back, just in time to see Sirius looking crestfallen and cross, and Remus with a tentative smile on his face. "Goodnight , boys!" I yelled as Lily pushed me into her room and slammed the door. She turned to me, a slightly predatory expression on her face. "Spill."_

_Never has one word been so terrifying, I thought to myself, as I steeled myself for a long night ahead._

"What d'you mean?" I said nonchalantly, sitting on her bed and studying my fingernails. She sat down beside me with a flop.

"I think you know what I mean, Mia." I continued studying my nails. I guessed she wanted to talk about Remus and Sirius, but wasn't sure, and said so, provoking a stern stare then a sigh. Then she explained, and my new world began to crash around my ears. Loudly.

"I think something's going on; something you don't want to tell me, or can't tell me, I don't know. But," she said, looking slightly anxious, "I know something is happening. You see," she turned to face me, legs crossed in front of her, "I've been having these dreams." I studied her for a moment - unease, confusion, but above all, seriousness - they were all evident in her eyes and her expression. I gulped, then my mouth worked before my brain had had a chance to censor the words.

"Tell me about it." I could have kicked myself. Figuratively.

"Alright. It's difficult - I keep seeing things I believe can't be true, but somehow I know they are." She shook her head, as if trying to stop herself from picturing something. "It's more like snippets - they creep into my normal dreams - that's how I know they're different. I'd be dreaming about dancing pancakes one second, then there's suddenly this brief vision of - something - then it's back to the pancakes. There's one I had, it can't have lasted more than a couple of seconds, but there's a boy - he must be about 11 or 12, as he's wearing Hogwarts uniform. And you're there, but you're a young you - if that makes sense. Your hair's way out here," she gestured with her hands to a couple of points almost a foot away from her head. I glared at her, but she continued, unfazed, "and you give him a hug." She stopped and looked at me.

"I know, somehow, that it is you - despite the fact that you've never been to Hogwarts until now - and that boy... that boy... He looks so much like James Potter, but that can't be right, because you weren't here in first year, so you wouldn't have been able to hug him, would you? Something niggles about him, I'm not sure why.

"And there are other ones - you in Hogsmeade with one of the Weasleys - although I don't recognise him - and that boy again, laughing, you at a Quiddich match with a Gryffindor scarf on, setting fire to some big, black robes, you in a class with Professor McGonagall... It's all snippets of you in a life at Hogwarts that I'm sure can't be true but I also know must be even though it can't be and it's all so confusing!" She finished in a rush of breath.

I sat there, worry and confusion flooding through me. From what Lily had been saying, she was having prophetic dreams about me from the future! But she couldn't be, could she? I had hated Divination since third year - all mumbo jumbo and guesswork - but this was hitting a little too close for comfort. Maybe it wasn't all tea-leaves and crystal balls as Professor Trelawney had shown it to be. I remembered all of the instances Lily had mentioned: in the hunt for the Philosopher's Stone, Hogsmeade in fourth year, setting fire to Professor Snape, one of many Transfiguration classes... There was no question about it - she was telling the truth - no-one from this time would be able to guess at any of that!

What to do? It had been firmly imprinted in my mind as a third year: "_You must not be seen_." And Dumbledore, after I arrived here; "_The less he (Snape) and others know about the future, the better_." But Lily appeared to already suspect something, and if I didn't tell her the truth, what if she asked Sirius and Remus, or Severus - hang on - backtrack, Hermione...

Sirius and Remus, and the other Marauders, and... ooh, that dratted map! I nearly hyperventilated as realisation hit me. Shit! If they looked me up on the map, I wouldn't come up as Mia Jones, but as Hermione Granger, and then they'd know something was up, and everything would be ruined! Ooh this is bad, very very bad... Shitshitshitshitshit... Now what?

I could tell Lily and hope she didn't tell anyone else - I could swear her to secrecy if I had to. Or I could lie, and pretend I didn't know what she was going on about - but that would lose me a new friend and I couldn't afford to have her on the wrong side of me. Another option would be to drag her up to Professor Dumbledore and ask him for advice - but that would mean passing Sirius and Remus in the common room on the way out and then they'd have to be told too... That wouldn't work either.

I could Obliviate her? However, as soon as the thought crossed my mind I clamped down on it. I wouldn't. I couldn't. There was no way I could betray her trust like that - I couldn't have done it to Harry or Ron, despite having a good reason, and I couldn't do it to Lily either. And then there was the chance that she would dream about it at a later stage - she would never forgive me for it.

Of course, it would be nice to have a friend on my side who knew everything - well, within reason. Not _everything_, just...

I made up my mind, and pulled out my wand.

"_Muffliato_." I felt slightly funny using a spell I'd found scribbled in a textbook, but I didn't want any eavesdroppers. I stuck my wand back in my pocket and looked at Lily, who was studying me with curiosity and not a small bit of confusion.

"How do you know that spell? Severus and I only came up with it last week," She said suspiciously. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"What d'you mean? I found it in the margin of a Potions' textbook - I left mine in the dormitories and needed to borrow one - it was the first one I picked up. D'you mean to say it's yours?" Lily looked even more confused. I sighed again.

"I'll start from the beginning. Lily - I'm from the future." OK, maybe that was a bit blunt.

She blinked. Twice. Then I was glad I'd cast that spell.

"What d'you mean? You can't be! You were home-schooled - but - hang on - that was just a cover story, wasn't it? And all that rot about your parents being dead, and being Professor Dumbledore's great-niece - or whatever it is you said you are - that's not true either, is it? Oooh - you - was anything you told us even remotely true? And I bet you wouldn't even have told me this if I hadn't had those stupid dreams, would you?" By this point, she was standing over me, glaring. It seemed that the whole 'red-head/bad temper' thing wasn't reserved solely for the Weasleys. I stood too to stop her from getting to the door.

"Please, Lily, try and understand! I have no idea how I got here, or even why I'm here. In my time there is a war going on, one that started in this time - I didn't want it known that I was from the future in case anyone heard who shouldn't have and then ended up getting information out of me that would destroy any chances we have of winning." I paused for breath and continued.

"My parents may not be dead, but they may as well be! If I went and found them now, they wouldn't even recognise their own daughter because I haven't even been born yet!" I could finally say everything that had been locked up inside me since the day I had arrived. "I miss them so much because I can't see them and we argued before I came here, and they probably hate me now, and I don't know how to get back, and I'll most likely never see them again, or Harry, or Ron, and I'm stuck here, and I don't know what to do!" By this point, tears were streaming down my face and I didn't really care what she did. Seconds later she surprised me by giving me a big hug.

A couple of minutes later, and we were sitting on the bed again, as if nothing had happened. (Admittedly my eyes were a bit redder from all the crying and she was a bit red in the face from all the shouting, but we ignored that).

"So Voldemort's still around then, is he?" She spoke almost nonchalently, but I could tell she was waiting with bated breath for my answer. I nodded silently.

"Oh."

"Yeah, you could say that."

Silence.

"I understand why you didn't tell anyone, you know. You couldn't risk it."

"Thanks." I flopped back onto the duvet and stared at the ceiling. Lily joined me a little later.

"I'm glad, though, that you forced it out of me - it's quite nice to be able to talk to someone about it - someone who doesn't just offer you a boiled sweet and a pat on the head."

"I guess this would explain why you can find your way around the school without any bother."

"Mmm."

Silence.

"Who else knows?"

"Professor Dumbledore."

"Obviously."

"Madame Pomphrey."

"?"

"I kinda collapsed when I realised - when - I was, and she discovered it when she looked up my magical records to find I don't get born for another few years."

"Oh. That must have been awkward."

"It was. She was about to go on another of her rants when I refused to give her my first name - then the Headmaster saved me..."

"Lucky. She can go on a bit."

Silence.

"There is one other person."

"Who?"

"Umm... Severus?" I closed my eyes, ready for the onslaught.

"What? You told him before you told me?"

"Lily! Calm down! He was there when I discovered I had arrived here - unfortunately he was witness to me acting completely ridiculously... He must have thought I was completely crazy! And he doesn't know anything at all about the future, just that I belong there."

"Oh. Well that's alright then."

"And I may have used the phrase, 'Oh my giddy aunt' ..." I winced.

"You didn't? I bet he loved that!"

"I don't know - I got carted off the the Hospital Wing before I could see the expression on his face." She giggled.

"You know, this would explain why he's been treating you so oddly."

"Mmm."

"So, Sev still has his textbook in the future?"

"?"

"We went through it, changing the instructions slightly - the potions were more effective our way. Sev came up with that spell, it's been very useful at warding off listeners. We've invented a couple of others - useful stuff, mainly."

"I did wonder who it belonged to - I was very dubious at first about using any of the spells in the book but I tried it out in the Room of Requirement and found out what it did... I haven't had a chance to use it yet as we broke up for the summer soon after."

"Where?"

"Where what?"

"You said something about a Room of Requiring..."

"Oh! It's actually called the Room of _Requirement_. It's on the seventh floor - it's quite useful as it turns into whatever you want it to be... I'll take you sometime and show you."

"Thanks!"

Silence.

"Mia?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this mean your name isn't actually Mia?"

"Umm... kinda. It's actually quite long and a bit more obvious than this one, so I've got a pseudonym. And, before you ask, I'm not going to tell it you in case you slip up at some point."

"Oh. Alright then." I was surprised she conceded that point so easily. At least the whole revelation about 'future Mia' had made her forget about any other topics she had been planning on bringing up.

Silence.

"So what is going on with you and Remus? Or Sirius for that matter?" Or, maybe not.

"Lily! You have a one-track mind!"

"Seriously, Mia. I don't want you to get hurt, and you will if you go for Sirius."

"What d'you mean?"

"He's a player. He goes out with a girl for a couple of days, a week or two at most - if she's lucky - then ditches her and moves on to someone else. I wouldn't recommend it - you're much better off with Remus."

"You speak as if from experience."

"Actually, he's not my type a neither of them are - but I have seen it happen to several of my friends, all of whom were then extremely unhappy for months afterwards."

"He might be different with me. And I've only know Remus for a few hours - I don't think that warrants him boyfriend material quite yet."

"Mia..."

"No, Lily, I'm not one for judging a book by its cover or from other peoples' opinions of it. If I did that, I'd never get to read anything at all!"

"Mmm." She sounded sceptical.

"But I will take what you said to heart. And don't worry - if it doesn't work out, you can say 'I told you so' to your heart's content."

"O.K. Just remember - be careful."

"I will."

**A/N: I would appreciate reviews, even if they are just a couple of words long... :D**

**Thanks again to my reviewers from last chapter - you made my day! :D**

**CB-13 xxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: they're not mine, unfortunately... I only own the plot. :-(**

**A/N: Only just noticed that last chapter was seven pages long! Sorry guys - that's not going to happen very often, I got a bit carried away :P**

**I just want to mention a few names: many thanks to **LK_HoGwArTs_hEaDgIrL**, who has reviewed religiously since chapter 6 with no more than two words each time. It's nice to know that she likes it - and it only takes the better part of ten seconds! The rest of you should follow her example!**

**Second: to **mggsmonkey**, who likes to see her name appear here - brilliant penname you've got there - jealous much! :P Thanks very much for being number two (of two) reviews for last chapter - your comments are much appreciated!**

**Finally, my sincere apologies to you all for leaving you without an update for so long... I can only beg 'exams' and then a nasty case of writer's block...**

**Chapter 16**

_**Previously: **__"No, Lily, I'm not one for judging a book by its cover or from other peoples' opinions of it. If I did that, I'd never get to read anything at all!"_

_"Mmm." She sounded skeptical._

_"But I will take what you said to heart. And don't worry - if it doesn't work out, you can say 'I told you so' to your heart's content."_

_"O.K. Just remember - be careful."_

_"I will."_

I spent the rest of the week reveling in the fact that I now had someone who knew my secret. I was still careful not to give anything away, and cast the _Muffliato _charm every time I talked about the future, but it was so nice to be able to actually talk to someone my own age who understood what I was going through! At one point Lily pointed out that we were both in very similar positions (apart from the whole time travel thing, of course) - there was a war going on in both our times, both our sets of parents had given us ultimatums, and we had both decided to leave. Lily understood me better than Harry or Ron - she knew what I was going through. She also knew when to talk and when to shut up and let me natter away about something, which was a blessing in disguise. I don't think I could have got through that week without her.

For the first time since arriving in this time, I didn't want to go home. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to become such good friends with a woman who was to die in a few years time but, at the time, I refused to think about it. With hindsight though, I was making it a lot harder for myself. I hadn't told her anything important about the future but I did go into some detail about Professor Umbridge and the pranks Fred and George had pulled on her (I kept all three nameless, just in case). Lily also didn't know how far back I had travelled, or that I was best friends with her son.

I found it extremely difficult not to warn her about her upcoming death. If Harry had been here, I don't think he would have coped at all with the situation. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place - if I told her, I'd be breaking hundreds of time travelling laws and would probably mess the time line up, big time. If I didn't, Harry would never forgive me - he wouldn't understand that I couldn't, he would just see that I had let his parents die when I could have saved them.

However I forced myself not to think about this - Lily and James were only in their sixth year, both not yet sixteen, and they didn't die until they were twenty-one. And they weren't even going out yet! I had five years in which to decide what to do - if, of course, I couldn't get back home. However I was having so much fun I didn't particularly want to work out how to get home - I have to admit I was neglecting my 'find the time traveller' project, but I didn't really feel up to it. I had hit a dead end with the missing page and I had yet to work out what to do next. In the meantime, I decided to enjoy myself, and relax.

Surprisingly, the weather took a turn for the better - being Scotland, you don't expect it to be particularly warm in the summer, but the temperature sky-rocketed to 26 degrees celcius, and the sun decided to grace us with its presence. We amused ourselves by splashing about in the lake and playing tag with the Giant Squid - even Severus decided to join us, it was that hot. However when Professor Dumbledore came out to join us, wearing nothing but a pair of bright pink Speedos, we made ourselves scarce extremely quickly. I think that particular incident scarred me for life (Lily commented that scraping her eyes out with a blunt spoon now sounded like a good idea, and Severus and I agreed rather loudly). I introduced both of them to the Room of Requirement, and we made good use of an Olympic sized swimming pool, complete with massive, gravity defying slides (magic, of course!).

The beginning of August came and went, and with it Sirius disappeared off to James' house and the castle seemed a little less lively. I told myself that this was because the weather was once more normal, but I think it was more the fact that I missed having Sirius around.

I had told Lily about the incident with Lucius Malfoy on the way back from Hogsmeade - or, at least, I told her I was attacked by a man and then proceeded to describe him - and she confirmed for me who it must have been.

"I don't know why he would try and attack me though - although I did accidentally bump into him on the way out of the Three Broomsticks, but I'm sure he wouldn't be that childish."

"I don't know." Lily looked slightly worried. "But if this means you've made an enemy of Lucius Malfoy, you'd better watch your back this coming year. I assume you're staying for the school year?" She added, questioningly. I drew my wand.

"_Muffliato_. Well, I haven't worked out how to get back yet, so I don't have much choice - I was following a lead I had, but I've hit a dead end. The same thing happened to another Hogwarts student back in 1829, so he should still be alive and I can talk to him about how he got back to his own time." I then went on to explain about searching through the yearbooks, and finding the 1830s one. She seemed concerned when she heard about the missing page and when the Compulsion charm on the yearbook had been cast.

"It sounds like someone is trying to keep you here. Who could it be, though?"

"That's what I thought too! And I haven't the foggiest! It's all very strange - the only people who know I am trying to find a way back are you, Sev, Professor Dumbledore, and Madame Pomphrey. And I don't see why any of you lot would want to keep me here." For the time being then, it was a mystery that was to remain unsolved.

Remus more or less kept himself to himself for the rest of the holidays, although he was talkative and friendly at meal times. I wondered at his behaviour, but Lily explained when I wondered aloud on the way back to Gryffindor Tower one evening.

"I overheard him and Black talking - or rather arguing - the day before he left to go to Potter's house."

"Go on."

"Black was jealous." I gave her an incredulous look.

"What? Of whom?"

"D'you remember when Remus found you in the Owlery, the evening you told me?"

"Yeah..." I think I could see where this was going.

"Well, Black thought it should have been him who had found you, and was warning Remus to stay away from his girl." My mouth fell open.

"His girl? _His_ girl? I'm no-one's _girl_, thank you very much!" I was outraged. The nerve of him! Lily giggled and placed a placating hand on my arm.

"I know, I know, I thought the same thing when I heard them. He's a bit of an idiot when it comes to this sort of thing."

"So Remus is avoiding me now, just because Sirius told him to? Surely it's my decision who I go out with - if indeed I decide on either of them!"

"I know what you mean. I think he feels he owes Black for something, I'm not sure why. He also told Black that he didn't deserve you, and told him he'd hex him into next year if Black didn't treat you right. He sounded very - Flabbergasted-"

"Huh?"

"It's the password, Mia."

"Oh." We'd just arrived at Gryffindor Tower and I hadn't even noticed. Lily stepped through the portrait hole and continued.

"As I was saying, he sounded very protective of you. You appear to have won yourself an admirer of sorts - although what sort of admirer he is that he is happy to let his best friend go after you, I don't know!"

**A/N: I am hoping to hit 50 on the review front some time soon - please donate generously! And if you have any suggestions as to who is trying to keep Hermione in the past, please suggest :D**

**Thankies :P**

**And, once again, I'm very sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long :(**

**Although - good news for you all - I'm off to Uni! So I should have a whole load more inspiration and you guys will end up with more regular updates. However, studying chemical engineering may leave me with no free time whatsoever... We'll see! :D**

**CB-13**

**xxx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: If I owned these guys, I would be sitting around all day doing nothing, having people bring me chocolate. While I am, currently, sitting around, doing nothing, and have people bringing me chocolate (love you Mum), I'm just on holiday, not JKR.**

**Well here you go – a bonus extra chapter because I feel guilty for leaving you hanging for so long. Enjoy!**

**Oh, and Finding Nemo is a brilliant film that even 18 year old me still loves. If you haven't seen it, SEE IT. OR ELSE.**

**Onwards and upwards!**

**Chapter 17**

_**Previously**__: We'd just arrived at Gryffindor Tower and I hadn't even noticed. Lily stepped through the portrait hole and continued._

_"As I was saying, he sounded very protective of you. You appear to have won yourself an admirer of sorts - although what sort of admirer he is that he is happy to let his best friend go after you, I don't know!"_

I had made a little headway on the wandless spells front after confessing to Lily what I was trying to do (admittedly I still couldn't cast any but I felt like I was moving on the right track). She had laughed and said it sounded something like telepathy - controlling things with your mind - which gave me an idea. The 'telepathy' comment put me in mind of Harry's Occlumency lessons - another form of 'mind magic'. Maybe if I taught myself Occlumency and gained some mental discipline, wandless magic would be a bit easier?

I found a book about Occlumency in the restricted section of the library the very same day - I managed to sneak in and out without Madame Pince noticing, an accomplishment I was extremely proud of. I didn't want to check the book out in the normal fashion, as questions would be asked as to why I wanted it. I also didn't want the person trying to stop me getting home to find out.

After reading the book thoroughly and making copious amounts of notes (normal 'me' syndrome when I'm learning something new!), I spent an hour or so each evening before I went to bed, practicing. This, however, was easier said than done - even the thought 'I must clear my mind' meant that it wasn't. After several weeks worth of frustrating sessions in which I failed to do anything that remotely resembled not thinking anything, I had a breakthrough the week before term was about to start.

I was lying on my bed, practicing - again - when I... suddenly wasn't. I suppose the only way to describe it is that one minute I was staring vaguely at the canopy of my bed and the next, I was inside my own mind. It was a rather odd experience - it was like I was standing in the middle of a large white room, but I couldn't see any walls or doors or anything - I wasn't even standing on anything, but instead floated in the centre of the room, as if held up by invisible strings. The room was filled with globes of different coloured light the size of golf balls, which were floating in the air in no apparent order. They went as far as the eye could see - I couldn't tell you how many there were, but there must have been several thousand of them at least! Peering around me, the thought "_this is odd,_" crossed my mind.

Literally.

I could see a wisp of pale yellow cloud float across the 'room' in front of me - where it came from, I have no idea. Somehow, I knew that it was my thought, and I watched in amazement as the 'thought cloud' flew to a point several feet above my head and formed a little yellow globe. I walked - well, floated, rather - up to the sphere of light and peered at it. Instantly, a playback of the last few minutes flashed before my eyes, and I watched myself standing exactly where I had been a moment ago, looking puzzled. I floated over to several other yellow globes and watched each of them in turn - they all contained occasions where I had been confused, shocked or slightly nervous - starting primary school for the first time, arriving in the room full of flying keys with Harry and Ron in my first year, Harry disappearing after he picked up the Triwizard Cup in fourth year, arriving in this time in Professor Dumbledore's office...

_OK_, I noted mentally. _ The yellow globes are puzzlement and confusion_. A normal, Muggle, piece of lined paper appeared in front of me, with the top curled over into a sort of scroll. I pulled it closer to me and noticed that the last line read: "_The yellow globes are puzzlement and confusion_". I sighed. This was going to take some getting used to!

I noted with amusement that the paper above the last comment was filled with mental notes I had made to myself - I giggled when I read those I had made before leaving the Burrow to go to Hogwarts. "_Make sure he doesn't snore_," I read aloud. I wondered if Sirius snored, then blushed and let go of the paper.

I floated over to another globe, this one pink (the paper faded away again now that I had left it). This new globe was a happy, fond memory of my parents. Another pink one was related to Harry, and another to Ron, and I moved on to different coloured globes quickly as nostalgia and an overwhelming sense of loss consumed me.

_That's the last thing I need, _I mused, wiping my eyes and trying not to think about it. _Getting all worked up inside my own head. _In response to this, all the pink globes scooted to the other side of the room and I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a new, blue, globe form itself and join the mêlée. Time to move on.

After peering at several blue balls, I surmised they contained sad memories (my piece of paper had reappeared and was noting everything down behind me). The green ones were all instances where I had been jealous of something or someone, and when I had a look at a red one, I blushed and moved on quickly. I didn't need to be reminded of some of the more... interesting dreams I had had since arriving in this time. My piece of paper, though, dutifully scribbled, "_Red - love/passion._"

By this point I was starting to feel tired - it seemed that staying in my head took quite a bit of energy out of me. Before I tried to work out how to leave, though, I decided to try something out. I spoke aloud - or, at least, I think I did - can you speak aloud inside your own brain?

"Can you all organise yourselves into groups of colours?" I aimed the question at the spheres. They floated there, and just when I was starting to feel a bit stupid for thinking of the idea in the first place, they started to move around.

It was a beautiful sight - thousands of tiny lights whizzing around me - and before I knew it they were all floating in 'shoals' of globes. They had separated into around twenty groups of different colours and now seemed a lot more manageable. There also seemed to be fewer of them - although, I now decided, my first estimate probably wasn't very accurate.

"Will you all stay separated like that if I leave? And will any new thoughts automatically separate themselves?" I wasn't sure if they'd be able to answer me, but then got the shock of my life as the nearest group rearranged itself to spell out the word _Yes_. I giggled. This was sooo weird. Another wisp formed into a yellow ball and answered my second question by joining the Yellow Group. I sighed again. The book hadn't said anything about coloured balls that did a Finding Nemo impression! I had had enough surprises for one day.

With a last glance around me, I thought, _How do I get out? _And, as suddenly as I had got there, I was lying on my bed again, staring at the canopy overhead.

I peered at my clock and gasped. I had been inside my own head for well over two hours! I would know in the future, then, that time inside my head passed a lot faster than time out of it. Well, my future past, or something like that. I rolled over and went to sleep.

I spent the next day with Lily and Severus. Both were interested to hear about my excursion into my mind the night before and, though Lily decided it wasn't something she wanted to try, Severus asked if he could borrow my book and have a go himself. Was this how he learned Occlumency, then? Would he have not learned it if I hadn't? My brain ached, and I tuned back into the conversation.

Severus now knew that Lily knew when I'd come from, and seemed to be a little more relaxed around me than he had been. He even contributed several suggestions to my 'stuck in this time' problem, the most useful being that I should contact Flourish and Blotts and see if they could find me a copy of the yearbook. He also told me that the Ministry kept records of all the students that had attended Hogwarts since the mid 1500s. This would be my back-up plan - if I couldn't find another yearbook, I would break into the Department of Historical Records, make a copy of the students from 1830, and compare it against my yearbook. The missing name would be the one I was looking for.

"Good idea, Sev, but how would I break into the Ministry? I can hardly walk in the front doors and announce my intentions!" Besides, I didn't want to risk another fiasco like the last time I had broken in - not only did it end in Sirius' death, I was also stuck in the hospital wing for a month afterwards. Severus just grinned at me though, and tapped his nose.

"You'll see." And that was all he would say on the subject. For some reason, that answer made me even more nervous than I had been at the prospect of breaking in to the Ministry again.

**A/N: Reviews are like diamonds - they are very rare but when they turn up they are lovely to behold. They are also a girl's best friend. Please help this author and provide her with some!**


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